


The Televised Adventures of the Space Gays and Their Magic, Mechanical Cats

by tempest_in_the_storm



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: BAMF Allura (Voltron), BAMF Hunk, BAMF Keith (Voltron), BAMF Lance (Voltron), BAMF Pidge | Katie Holt, BAMF Shiro (Voltron), Crack Treated Seriously, Dads of Marmora babysit, F/F, F/M, It's gonna be a goddamn train wreck, M/M, Many Concerned Adults, Multi, No Shaladin sorry, Prepare for Memes and Tears, ProtectSpaceDadandHisKids2k17, Slav was right but it doesn't mean he gets to be an ass about it, The Fandom Will Beat the shit out of any and everyone, Watching the Show, We need the Fandom represented here ok, Whatever the Allura and Lance Brotp/Sibling Name is, Yes that includes you reading this, and its great, broganes, but also not sorry, holy shit why is that not a tag, we're all there as well, we're already breaking the fourth wall better go all the way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-01-19 10:05:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12408318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tempest_in_the_storm/pseuds/tempest_in_the_storm
Summary: Exactly what you think it is- but even more cringe-tastic. Imagine every single character in the universe in one room (Very big room, mind you) all sitting together to watch a recorded children's cartoon of Voltron, the Legendary Defender. Yes, Slav we get it. You were right, WE KNOW. Now please shut the hell up.(Will show all seasons, and will also contain spoilers. Hopefully that would be obvious.)Used to be titled "The Televised Adventures of Space Dad, Space Mom, Space Uncle, The Tiny Green Gremlin, The Space Cowboys, and The Hunky Teddy Bear" but that was hella long so fuck that





	1. Let Space Dad Rest- No Not Like This He's Been Through Enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The World](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+World).



> updates are sporadic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space Dad wants a break he's tired ok

The first sound that could be heard in the darkness of the room was the whirring of a computer. There was no light, no sense of space, literally nothing to judge the size of the room.

As if to answer this conclusion made by many of the room's occupants, lights began to flicker on; little floating orbs glowing with a warm dull aura. They were like small stars in the void of space, lighting up the darkness with their distant energy. Gradually, the room became more definable. The seating was arranged in a shape not unlike that of the Gladiator Ring that the Galra had possessed, rows upon rows of stone seats equipped to seat tens of thousands.

In the center of the pseudo Gladiator Ring, was a large, metallic cube. Undeniably alien-surface black and smooth as glass, emitting the low-pitched hum- like an engine powering up.

Hunk jolted in place next to his fellow Paladins, perched on the edge of the uncomfortable alien amphitheater bench.

Tension suddenly ran through their group, and subtly their eyes shifted to Keith- the one who usually was the most paranoid but also the most instinctive of them all- whose wide eyed gaze was glued on the seats slightly perpendicular to their own.

On his left, Shiro was the first to locate where the Red Paladin’s gaze had landed, and the effect was instantaneous. His entire body froze up in shock, so utterly open in his emotions that it rattled the other paladins at the intensity of his fear. Their leader’s entire body was tense, prosthetic arm like stone at his side. Their heads swiveled to where both Shiro and Keith’s gazes were directed, and when they saw it, the world seemed a whole lot colder to them as well. Lance physically shuddered at the sight.

Galra filled up row after row of the seats; somehow among their ranks being those they could have _sworn_ they had defeated. Pidge recognized Sendak, seemingly alive and well, with his soldiers. A quick, nearly silent inhale from Hunk and Pidge’s gaze was sweeping quickly over the ranks to see what had triggered his alarm.

When she did, her body trembled. She bore holes into Haggar, surrounded by her druids. The very ones that had inflicted the most pain on Shiro- taken his arm, tortured him physically, mentally. Had layered him up with so much PTSD that Pidge was almost positive that Shiro would never fully recover.

Deep breathing from her right had her glancing back at the aforementioned Black Paladin- subtly of course. She wasn't a blunt train wreck like the others. Shiro seemed to be on the brink of a mind melting breakdown; face pale, hands shaking, and eyes so wide she could see more of the whites of his eyes than his irises and pupils. He stared at the ground, his gaze unfocused. She looked beyond him to lock eyes with Keith, who had been frowning helplessly at the man who was like a brother to him, brows crinkled in concern. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on Shiro’s hand- his prosthetic hand.

Pidge grabbed his other hand and squeezed, the same way her brother would do when she was stressed over a particularly difficult problem, or after she had went through a rough day in school. When the bullies' words cut a little too deep and she couldn't lick her wounds alone.

Slowly, Shiro’s eyes refocused, the strain in his face loosening. Like a cornered animal, his eyes darted around to take in his surroundings and ground himself. Keith and Pidge let him take his time.

He didn’t look at either of them, but he nodded in silent thanks, unable to speak.

On Keith’s right, Lance was frowning at the center of the room, where the strange black cube continued to hum like some otherworldly generator.

While everyone else had seemed to still be on the fact that they were in the same room with a bunch of _Galra,_ even the ever observant Pidge had seemed to fail to notice that _there wasn’t just Galra_. The stands were filled with countless different species, some he recognized, some he didn’t.

There was something so much bigger at work here, but _what_?

“What is the meaning of this?” A voice cried out from amongst the Galra.

It was like the first pebble in an avalanche.

Shouts rose up almost immediately, confusion and anger thick in the air. The noise echoed off the walls, so loud that Lance almost missed the rising crescendo of music quickly increasing in volume over the audience. The sound was like a tidal wave, almost impossible to catch one's breath before it swept you under. The music drowned out everything else, and those that were species with more sensitive hearing clutched their ears in agony- which included most of the Galra, to a few of the Paladins' smug amusement.

The cube in the center of room boomed, lights bursting from all the edges and into the air to form crisp rectangles in the air, and that was when Lance realized that  _this_ was why they were all here. 

Because displayed on it were three words that had them stuck in their seats, stiff with both anticipation and a collective dread.

Shiro stared at the rainbow text reading **_Voltron: Legendary Defender_** _,_ and gave a tired sigh, head hanging low in resignment.


	2. Do All Earthlings Know Each Other Or is That Just Lance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge Swears, Trygel Adopts, Shiro is Fucking Tired, and Zarkon is Confused.
> 
>  
> 
> (oh and Klance pining all the while)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **PLEASE CHECK END NOTES FOR UPDATE**

 

“ _Guys, gals, and non-binary pals!_ ” A voice boomed overhead. A few aliens shrieked in alarm. Others tensed in suspicion. “ _I suppose you are all wondering why you are here._ ” The voice continued, it’s speaker invisible to the audience. “ _You have been brought here for a reason- through no small amount of effort- into this gap between realities to watch a show!_ ”

From amongst the Galra, Haggar sat with her druids, who were stoic and silent to the turn of events, but a flicker of surprise washed over the ranks as their leader jolted in her seat, composure lost.

“Impossible.” The Altean witch gasped. She spread her arms out, grasping for the quintessence hanging in the air around her. She frowned. “The quintessence here is strange.” The Altean murmured, eyes narrowed in confusion. Her eyes darted towards the screen being displayed in the center of the room. “Be on your guard.” She told her druids, who nodded silently. Haggar glanced around for her emperor, unease settling within her bones when she was unsuccessful in locating him in the audience.

She was not the only one gazing amongst the numbers of the crowds- not far away sat a Galra whose white braid hung down his back like a cape. Kolivan’s unreadable mask was wavering, as he eyed the situation of the seating around him. His Blades, were all around him, Antok, Ulaz, and Thace nearest his side. But they were encircled by Galra allied with the Empire. Through some blessing of itself, none of his order, himself included, were donned in their Blade uniforms.

Everything about this situation screamed that a disaster was imminent, a bomb just waiting to go off. The other members seemed to be feeling similarly, he observed as he glanced at the carefully composed blankness of Thace’s and Ulaz’s faces, and the stillness of which Antok sat, black hood and mask concealing his face.

“ _Are. You. Excited?_ ” The voice was still speaking, revving the audience, and seeming to receive a particularly enthusiastic response from a decent group of Earthlings. Chants were rising from their section, and the energy they emitted was almost palpable.

Pidge glance at the section skeptically. She adjusted her glasses, taking a deep sigh, as the other Paladins seemed to share her lack of enthusiasm for the current situation.

“So, I don’t suppose that it would be too much to get our hopes up that this isn’t going to be focused on what I think it’s focused on? Right?” Hunk spoke hesitantly from Pidge’s right, tapping his fingers together in his lap nervously. The yellow paladin fidgeted in his seat, head swinging between his teammates for some form of assurance. “Right? Because that would be ridiculous, I mean it literally could be about anything, we don’t have to automatically assume-,”

“Well,” Keith interrupted, a deadpan look on his face as he stared ahead. “Judging by the fact, that it’s literally called _Voltron,_ I’m assuming it’s going to be about Voltron.” Lance snorted on his right.

“Well, that much is obvious. But I think what my bud, was trying to say,  Samurai, was that Voltron is such an old legend, it literally _could_ be about anything. I mean, people name things after stuff with absolutely no correlation to each other for the popularity and recognition all the time.” Lance shrugged, nodding to his old friend, who smiled wobbly at Lance in gratitude. Pidge leaned forward in her seat, chin resting on a fisted hand.

“That could be true. But if we’re going down the more direct route, and automatically subtract all of the more… _out there_ implausibilities, we’ll be left with the more blunt, simpler possibilities.” She gave a pointed glance at each of her teammates. “Like that this show that we’re here for is going to be about Voltron. Actual Voltron.” Shiro huffed tiredly.

“With our luck, it’ll be some kind of documentary of our lives as Paladins.” He said, silencing the others as they acknowledged this. They all collectively cringed. Lance cursed in Spanish.

“Can we not jinx it.” Pidge said flatly, tone dead.

“ _You have all heard of the legend of Voltron; the defender of the universe; a powerful warrior that brought peace across the galaxies 10,000 years ago; an indestructible being formed from five majestic lions_!” The unknown speaker was talking again.

“Man, this dude’s enthusiasm reminds me of Coran…” Lance sighed amusedly.

“ _This mythical hero faded into the shadows,_ ” The voice said mysteriously. “ _Declared to be fictional- when in fact, it is the very opposite! Real as me or you!_ ”

Murmurs broke out around the room again, more so in the non-Galran alien sections, where shocked expressions were mirrored on every face- or every face that could convey it. Of course, many of them didn’t not even begin to think of seeing this news as hope, a way to gain freedom from Galra rule.

“ _And here, you will be able to witness this legend being_ _reborn_ _!_ ” There were excited gasps from the Earthlings. “ _Introducing the next generation of_ _VOLTRON_ _!_ ”

“Oh, quiznak.” Lance groaned. Pidge shot a glare at Shiro, who didn’t even look bashful at her accusing stare.

“I can’t believe you fucking jinxed us.” She hissed at their leader.

“Language, Pidge.” Shiro reprimanded without blinking. The green paladin paused, before she made a face halfway between a pout and a sneer.

“Sure, _Dad._ ” Pidge crooned. The other Paladins snickered despite the tension, only growing louder when Shiro just hung his head and sighed exasperatedly. Keith patted his back comfortingly.

“What is this?” Allura spoke softly from her father’s lap. The seven year old Altean princess knew only a little about her father’s creation, and how he and the four others sitting beside him piloted parts of it. She glanced at her father, whose eyes were crinkled in confusion as he took in the sight of the room.

“What’s this about it being 10,000 years?” Blatz drawled from Allura’s right. “I mean, I guess it’s nice to know we were memorable, huh?” He directed this towards his fellow paladins.

“What is it, Trigel?” Gyrgan asked the green paladin, whom was currently wearing her thinking face.

“It’s just…” She trailed off. From her left, Zarkon, patted her shoulder.

“Please, tell us what you are thinking Trigel. You have the sharpest mind of all of us.” Trigel glanced at him.

“I don’t understand how the validity of Voltron was able to deteriorate so much. Yes, 10,000 years may be a long time, but surely we would have had successors within that time frame, no?” The words came rushed, gaining speed the longer she mulled over it.

“You don’t suppose something happened to Voltron?” Gyrgan murmured.

 “Perhaps it was lost? But that would imply carelessness and as far as we know, this is the most valuable defender this universe has at its disposal. There must be more.” Alfor spoke, thinking out loud what the others were no doubt thinking as well.

“I suppose we will have to see, where this… TV show will begin. Perhaps we will be able to discover what we’re missing.” Zarkon mused out loud.

The roomed dimmed, and unconsciously, everyone grew silent as the screen began to glow in the middle of the room, splicing to form four more screens in a square, one side viewable from each seat in the amphitheater.

 ** _The Rise of Voltron_** appeared on the screen, white text glowing against the dark background of space. The view shifted to focus on a planet, and before the rest of the words had even appeared on the screen, Shiro was slouching in his seat.

 _Kerberos_. Shiro closed his eyes, shutting back the memories of that day, and all that happened afterwards. On either side of him, the other Paladins had recognized what was being shown as well.

Keith growled, heart tearing as he watched Shiro- the closest to family he had ever known- curl up within himself, cutting his own consciousness off from the outside environment.

“Pidge, do you have your headphones on you?” Lance called quietly to the green paladin over the heads of Shiro and Keith. Her eyes widened in understanding as she immediately caught on, nodding and gesturing to her headphones, which were in fact, hanging around her neck. Gently, she removed them to fasten them on their leader’s head.

Shiro flinched at the initial contact, before relaxing and smiling gratefully in Pidge’s direction, eyes still closed.

As one, the other four paladins inched closer to the oldest of them, offering a silent show of support as Shiro attempted to block out what was happening on screen. Though, that did not mean that their own attention was not split on viewing it as well.

 Unknowingly, several rows behind them, sat more Earthlings, who were watching enraptured with the events happening onscreen.

“So they didn’t crash…” A staff member from the Galaxy Garrison murmured, eyes glued to the screen.

“But why are they showing this? And what the heck is Voltron?” Another staff member whispered. Iverson paid no mind to his fellow coworkers, attention focused solely on what was happening before.

He pushed down the guilt, shoved it down _deep_ as he remembered the actions that Garrison had been forced to take to cover up how the crew of the Kerberos mission had vanished without explanation. Though, from the horror show he was able to glimpse in the farther reaches of the room, the impossible idea of _aliens_ being the explanation was becoming more and more real.

**_“Easy, son. This ice is delicate.” An older man’s voice spoke. The speaker seemed to hovering over a smaller figure who slowly removed a cylinder of mined ice from the drill._ **

**_“Amazing.” The smaller figure breathed, the tone of that of an awestruck child. “Isn’t this exciting, Shiro?” The boy glanced at another figure, taller and broader than the first two._ **  
****

From amongst the crowd of Galra, a shadowed group of five sat, spread out in a similar formation to the paladins of Voltron. A quiet gasp escaped one of the seated Galra. They leaned forward to whisper to the leader of their group.

“Their faces… look Altean don’t they, Lotor?”

“You don’t even know what Alteans look like, Ezor.” The Galra next to Ezor chided. Ezor pouted, shrugging.

“They would look pretty similar to Lotor, right? I mean after all, he is part Altean.” She nodded to the person in question, who had been staring at the screen silently.

“No.” He said finally, still staring ahead. “They bear no markings on their faces, and their tech is primitive. Far below that of even the most rudimentary Altean commoner.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think they will be of much importance in the future.”

 **_“You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do.” He said bemusedly at the unadulterated joy in his fellow crew member’s voice._ **  
****

**_The older man commented again. “This is history in the making. Not only have we traveled farther than any human ever has, but this ice could hold microscopic clues about the existence of life outside Earth.”_ **  
****

A few Galra scoffed at this statement. “What a primitive species.”

Another alien tilted their head in befuddlement. “So they aren’t aware that they’re not the only ones in the universe? I can't even imagine.”

**_“Think of it, Dad. We could use these clues to become the first people to meet aliens.”The childish Earthling spoke in wonder._ **

There was laughter at this statement, and Pidge scowled in defense of her brother. She fought the urge to rise to her feet and defend her brother against these oblivious assholes, but at the moment, the man next to her needed her support more. So instead she grit her teeth, and continued to rub circles on Shiro’s back soothingly.

**_“My life’s work would be complete.”_ **

“Be careful what you wish for.” Almost as if on cue with this statement, rumbling began to shake the screen, and the Earthlings froze in confusion.

**_“What is that? Seismic activity?” The older Earthling exclaimed. The more stern one, Shiro, seemed to be leader, and with a cautious tone he said,_ **

**_“We should get back to the ship.” He reached for the ice sample, but suddenly a great shadow passed slowly onto them. They spun around in alarm_ **  
****

Screams rose out from the Earthlings as the Galra ship appeared,huge and looking as terrifying as any alien from War of the Worlds. The other species, who had experienced invasion from the Galra- all of them- sighed in sympathy for the primitive species that would too soon experience enslavement from the Galra Empire.

Amongst the original paladins, Zarkon sat fixated.

 “That is a Galra ship.” He stared at the screen, a sense of foreboding settling deep beneath his skin, not unlike the chill he often faced when near the rip his wife worked at.

  ** _“What? What is that?” The older man cried. “It can’t be.”_**

A few Galras cackled gleefully. “Hah! You can hear the terror in the rat’s voice.”

**_Shiro’s face was finally shown up close, still not being recognizable by most, but his attractiveness was definitely not regarded by most species looking on. The Earthling stared at the approaching ship for only a brief second, seemingly unable to process what was happening before his eyes widened._ **

Amongst the Blade, Ulaz was nodding his head approvingly. “He has fast reaction time. Good qualities in a leader.”

**_“Run!” He shouted to his fellow Earthlings. “Come on, run!” He grabbed them both by the arms forcefully, pulling them into motion._ **

“He looks out for his comrades as well.” Thace added, contemplating the Earthling leader. Kolivan stayed silent.

Despite the unease he felt at the oddness of the situation, Zarkon was unconsciously nodding as well, approving of how quickly the leader of the Earthlings was taking action, and rushing to get his men to safety.

 **_The Galra ship readied it’s beam, making a loud hum as it charged up._ **  
****

The sound of the beam rose up over any noises made by the Earthlings as they looked on in horror.

A Taujeerian hummed sadly. “They do not know that attempts to flee a Galra Retracting beam is futile.” Aliens around him hummed in grim agreement.

**_When the beam fired, the volume vibrated the room, the bright purple filling the screen, along with the Earthlings’ screams, and then the screen turned to black._ **

“…. Is that it?” A voice said into the quiet of the amphitheater hesitantly.

“Shhhh!” Echoed from all around.

**_“Emperor Zarkon,”_ **

Cheers burst from the Galra at this.

_**“We were scouting System X-9-Y as ordered when we found these primitive scientists.”** _

Zarkon frowned at the sound of himself being addressed, and more so the situation in which he was being addressed.  
****

“Surely this must be a mistake. I would never appoint officers who executed these kinds of actions.” Alfor chuckled, laying a hand on the Galra paladin’s shoulder.

“Peace, old friend. It’s been 10,000 years. You have long been in your grave. This is no doubt one of your descendants, unfortunate as it may be.” He promised Zarkon comfortingly, who only continued to stare at the screen in distaste.

 **_A handsome face filled the screen, it’s owner slowly coming to consciousness. The man blinked slowly. Than he gasped, shooting upright. His eyes darted ahead to stare at the Galra Officer addressing a silhouette of an alien, whose eyes glowed a pinkish purple._ **  
****

**_“I don’t think they know anything useful.” The Galra officer finished._ **  
****

**_“Take them back to the main fleet for interrogation. The druids will find out what they know.” The silhouette spoke, his voice gravely and low._ **  
****

Earthlings and aliens alike shivered at the voice in fear and unknowing dread.

“Though I will say they do bear a remarkable resemblance to you.” Blatz mused. At the glares shot his way, and the slouching form of the black paladin, he smoothed over his statement. “But that’s all it is, bud. After all no one can live forever!” He laughed, a sound that was contagious to the others, and eased the tension out of their bodies.

 **_The screen flicked back to Shiro, expanding to show the other two humans with their helmets still on. He looked between them, evaluating the situation and their condition, before opening his mouth._ **  
****

Someone let out an involuntary hiss.

**_“Please, we come from a peaceful planet! We mean you no harm!” He directed to the Galra Officer and his higher up._ **

“He’s got some guts.” Someone muttered, loud enough to be heard by a few others who nodded inbegrudging agreement.

“It is likely stupidity.” Sendak sneered from alongside the other Higher Ranker officers.

 **_As Shiro spoke, the officer turned to glower at him, seeming to think the same things as Sendak._ **  
****

**_“We’re unarmed!”_ **

"Not yet, you aren't." Someone called from the rowdy Earthling's section and cries of shock and outrage immediately echoed in response.

Meanwhile, groans echoed from amongst the Non-Galrans as the Earthling continued to speak, echoing the pained grunt that escaped from Shiro as a Galra slammed a gun into his back, slamming him to the ground. The screen blacked out, before focusing back in to the sound of heavy footsteps.

_**A Galra soldier walked one of the shorter Earthlings along, The screen moved, swiveling around to look at closed cell doors where voices emitted.** _

_**“Look, they brought in another one.”** _

**_“Who is it?”_ **  
****

**_“Over there. It’s another one.”_ **  
****

“Another one for what?” An Earthling in the audience questioned.

**_Shiro was being dragged along the ground and he looked to his right, where he saw levels upon levels of cells._ **

Gasps of horror echoed amongst the Earthlings.  
****

“How diabolical!” Someone cried.

“You don’t even know, silly little creatures.” An alien said sadly. “You don’t even know.”

Keith and the other paladins bit their tongues to hold back their angry cries directed at the screen, at the Galra, at _Zarkon_. To think Shiro had been in that nightmarish hell for at least a year, taking him apart for piecing him back together…

**_Shiro’s eyes widened, horror filling his expression as realization finally began to hit him. A gasp escaped him before the screens once again went to black._ **

“That’s a rough way to discover life outside your own planet.”

**_The screen lit up to once again focus on stars and_ ** **_One Year Later_ ** **_appeared in the corner._ **

 “Well that was a big time jump.” A Galra whispered.

Hesitantly, Keith rubbed Shiro’s shoulder.

 “I think it’s over. Are you good?” He asked the black paladin. Wearily, the twenty five year old slipped off the headphones, wordlessly handing them back to Pidge. He turned to look at the red paladin and smiled weakly at him.

“Yeah, I’m good.” He said, grimly, voice dim.

“We’re here for you.” Keith told the older man firmly, eyes not leaving his for a second. Around him the other paladins had similar expressions of determination, which Shiro noticed. He exhaled deeply, before smiling warmly at the other four.

“What would I do without you all?”

 “I could list a number of things, all of them bad.” Pidge offered, pointing thoughtfully.

“How about we continue watching okay guys?” Lance advised the group, just in time to hear his own voice coming from the screen.

  ** _“Galaxy Garrison flight log 5-11-14. Begin descent to Kerberos for rescue mission.”_**

 “Oh, mierda.” Lance groaned. “This is going to be a train wreck.” Next to Shiro, Pidge snorted.

 “Flight simulators with you always are.” She crooned at the blue paladin, whose face grew pink.

 “No comment.” He muttered, looking away from the smug, little, green gremlin.

Across from the room, Antok sighed. “They’re not going to be there.” He said. His fellow Blades frowned.

**_The screen flicked to show a large dark skinned boy, whose face was distorted into an expression of queasiness._ **

“Holy crow.” Hunk blurted out. “This is going to be so weird watching ourselves, and you know, not actually knowing that everyone in the Universe was going to see everything we do.”  
****

“Well~, hopefully not _everything._ ” Lance added, smirking knowingly. Pidge made a face of disgust.

“Wait too much information, man.” She shuddered. Lance only winked, shrugging helplessly, the little shit he was.

 **_“Lance,” He groaned to the pilot. “Can you keep this thing straight?” The pilot shrugged nonchalantly._ **  
****

Pidge turned to Hunk.

"I can’t believe you asked the bisexual to keep something straight.” She told him flatly. Both swiveled their heads to gaze at Lance, who didn’t notice, seemingly absorbed with the show and himself on screen- as far as they knew.

“You’re right.” Hunk said monotone. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It only baits him.”

 **_“Relax Hunk, I’m just getting a feel for the stick.” He replied. A mischievous grin grew on his face. “It’s not like I did this!” He then proceeded to nosedive the shuttle. The human boy, Hunk groaned at the action. “Or this!” There was another abrupt move followed by more groaning._ **  
****

Snickers were rattling through the audience. Blatz himself was cackling, much to the begrudging amusement of his fellow paladins. Many of the more experienced pilots however, were shaking their head in disgruntlement.

“Such lack of decorum.” Kolivan spoke quietly. Beside him Thace hummed in agreement, hiding back the small smile at the Earthling’s antics.

Meanwhile, said Earthling was currently receiving a disapproving frown from his leader.

“No, no, no, _no_.” Lance grumbled, averting his eyes. “Don’t give me the Dad look.”

The others made _oooooh_ noises, like little children.

**_“Okay, unless you want to wipe beef stroganoff-,”_ **

“What’s… beef?”

 “No clue.”

**_“-out of all the little nooks and crannies in this thing, you better knock it off, man!” Hunk was shouting by the end of his speech._ **

**_A blue pinpoint appeared on the shuttle’s screen, and then the camera zoomed out to show a small Earthling, with short hair and glasses._ **

**_“We’ve picked up a distress beacon!” They informed Lance._ **  
****

“They’re not going to be there~.” Someone crooned.

“I must say, that Earthling is adorable.” Trygel said, tilting her head. The other paladins shot her looks.

“I never took you in all my years, to admire the cuteness of a little creature.” Blatz smirked. He shot a glance at Princess Allura. “Besides this little one, of course.” He said, reaching over to ruffle the small child’s hair, drawing a giggle from her.

“I want to adopt it.”

“Trygel, _no_."

  ** _The pilot, Lance, grew serious._**

“That’s much better.” Thace said approvingly. Apparently the Earthling could take his job as leader of his squad seriously.

 **_“All right, look alive, team!” He said, pressing buttons above the front console. “Pidge, track coordinates.” He told the small Earthling with glasses._ **  
****

**_The Earthling, Pidge spun around in the chair to face their screen again. “Copy.”_**

“So young…” An alien muttered. “Like a little cub.”

Meanwhile, Iverson was shaking his head at the trio of misfits. Whoever had paired the three of them together as a team had made a terrible decision. (It was him.)

**_The shuttle shook again. “Knock it off, Lance! Please!” Hunk cried out from the back. A cynical expression was on Lance’s face as he looked back at the boy._ **

**_“This one’s on you buddy. We’ve got a hydraulic stabilizer out.” He jeered. Hunk grew wide eyed, looking down at his screen. The shuttle rumbled again. The boy gulped._ **  
****

**_“Oh, no.” Hunk said with dread._ **  
****

**_“O- no.” Lance hissed. “Fix now, puke later.”_ **  
****

“Keep it together, young one. You can do it.” Gyrgan spoke to the screen encouragingly, clenching his fists together.  
****

**_“I lost contact. The shaking is interfering with our sensors.” Pidge reported, over the continuous beeping, their tone pointed._ **  
****

**_“Come on, Hunk.” Lance whined._ **  
****

“They’re an absolute mess.” Kolivan muttered under his breath, shaking his head. He was not the only one unimpressed with the poor example of teamwork.

**_“It’s not responding.” Hunk moaned some more, in between his deep, gulping breaths._ **

**_A pinpoint appeared on the front window. Lance made a sound. “Never mind, fellas. That she blows. Preparing for approach on visual.” A satisfied smile was on his face._ **  
****

**_“Uh, I don’t think that’s advisable,” Pidge called to Lance. “With our current mechanical-,” Hunk’s cheeks puffed out behind them. “and gastrointestinal issues.” They added, a disgusted look crossing their face._ **  
****

“Why is someone with such extreme motion sickness issues a crew member on a space craft?” Ezor whispered to the Galra next to her. They shrugged.

“How would I know?” Ezor grimaced.

“You know everything, don’t you Axca?” She said playfully. Axca scowled.

 **_“Agreed.” Hunk added pitifully._ **  
****

**_“Stop worrying.” Lance scoffed from the front chair. “This baby can take it,” Lance patted the front console soothingly. “Can’t you, champ?” In response, a large rumble shook the shuttle._ **  
****

**_Panic flitted across Lance’s face, before he fitted a smiling grimace on his face. “Uh- see? S-she was nodding. She was nodding.”_ **  
****

Laughter bubbled from a few. Keith nudged Lance in the side teasingly.  
****

“Sure.” He grinned. Lance froze, staring at the other boy who seemed oblivious to the growing blush on the blue paladin’s cheeks.  
****

**_“Pidge, hail down to them and let them know their ride is here.”_ **

**_Pidge unbuckled their harness, reaching into one of the cabinets overhead._ **

**_“Attention, lunar vessel- WHOA!” Pidge yelped as a particularly violent rumble sent them tumbling to the floor._ **  
****

“That sounded painful.”

“Oh my god, Pidge you look so done.” Lance chortled. Pidge unintentionally mimicked the expression at Lance’s comment, making him laugh even harder.

“Settle down, Lance.” Shiro said calmly. Lance took a deep breath, before whispering solemnly,

“Maybe one day, Shiro. Maybe one day.” He waggled his brows. 

 **_“What are you doing?” Lance scolded Pidge was hadn’t moved from the floor. “Buckle your belt. And, Hunk, stop that shaking!”_ **  
****

**_“I’m try— oh, no.” Then Hunk vomited._ **  
****

“Hope he didn’t dispel that oral waste on anything important.” An alien cringed in distaste.

 **_“Attention, lunar vessel, this is Galaxy Garrison Rescue Craft One Victor Six Three Tango. Coming in for landing and extraction,” Pidge shot a look at Lance. “Against crew recommendations.” They added sassily._ **  
****

“It’s official. I’m adopting that child.”  
****

“ _By Willow,_ Trygel-”

 **_“No time for your mutinous comments now, Pidge. They’re going under and we’re going in.” Lance shot back at his communications officer. He angled the space craft down towards the surface._ **  
****

“That’s a pretty sharp angle to begin a drop down.” An alien pilot noted.  
****

**_“Look out for that overhang!” Pidge cried._ **

**_“No worries. My first year in flight school, you know what they called me? They called me ‘The Tailor’ because of how I thread the needle.”_ **

Keith gave a deadpan look at Lance.  
****

“When did anyone every call you that?” He said skeptically.

“You didn’t even remember me, how would you be able to remember what people called me, huh?” Lance shot back.

 **_The other crew members yelled as Lance angled the craft sideways, muttering, “Come around, come around! Come on, come on!”_ **  
****

**_There was a loud crash. The screen shifted to show a flashing red screen._ **  
****

**_“We lost a wing!” Hunk yelled in response, seemingly more surprised than anything._ **  
****

“They are surprisingly calm, considering they are about to crash and die.” A Galra whispered.

**_The beeping continued, as the screen showed Lance’s tired face._ **

**_“Oh, man.” He moaned._ **  
****

**_The space craft crashed into the ice covered ground._**

**_"Simulation Failed"._ ** ****

There were a chorus of “What?”s that echoed around the room.

“So that wasn’t real?”

“Makes sense, since it should be impossible for them to be able to receive a distress signal if there is nowhere there to transmit it.”

**_“Nice work, Tailor.” Pidge spat at Lance in the dimly lit craft._ **

"Sorry about that.” Pidge apologized to Lance. He raised an eyebrow confused.

“Why?” He snorted. “I deserved it.”

 **_Behind them, an orange door opened, and a man in uniform leaned in._ **  
****

**_Roll out, donkeys!” He ordered, his voice like gravel._ **  
****

Iverson frowned at seeing himself on screen.  
****

**_The view changed to a more direct viewing of the man in uniform’s face, who was glaring down disapprovingly._ **

**“ _Well, let’s see if we can’t use this complete failure as a lesson for the rest of you students. Can anyone point out the mistakes these three so-called cadets made in the simulator?” He snarled._**

Despite the events already having happened, the three being scolded on screen slouched in their seats, still able to relive the embarrassment of that moment, and, of course, the countless other times before it. Commander Iverson had always been their greatest critic.  
****

**_A dark haired Earthling raised his hand. “The engineer puked in the main gearbox.”_ **  
****

“Gee.” Hunk grumbled. “Thanks, Caleb, for pointing that out so bluntly.”  
****

**_“Yes. As everyone knows, vomit is not an approved lubricant for engine systems. What else?” The man confirmed, turning back to the rest of the class._ **

**_“The comm spec removed his safety harness.”_ **  
****

**_“The pilot crashed!”_**

“You know,” Lance commented. “Normally I would complain that this was turning into a major bashing session, but we actually did fuck up a lot so it’s all true.” Pidge and Hunk nodded in begrudging agreement.  
****

**“ _Correct. And worst of all, the whole jump, they’re arguing with each other!” The instructor ranted. “Heck, if you’re going to be this bad individually, you’d better at least be able to work as a team!”_**  
****

“Bitch, what you say?” Pidge said, gazing down at her nails in disinterest. The others cackled while Shiro scolded her for swearing. She looked up at him blankly.

“Well, it’s true. We literally are part of one of the most powerful teams in the universe and we do it just fine.”

 **_“Galaxy Garrison exists to turn young cadets like you into the next generation of elite astroexplorers, but these kinds of mental mistakes are exactly what cost the lives of the men on the Kerberos Mission.” Pidge’s eyes widened._ **  
****

**_“That’s not true, sir!” They shouted._ **  
****

“Why the fuck you lying~.” Pidge whispered. The others still heard, grinning at the reference- except for Keith, the poor uneducated child who only tilted his head in confusion- while Shiro sent her a look. She reaffirmed the statement.

“Why the quiznak you lion~.” She repeated, high fiving Hunk when Shiro let out an exasperated groan.

On the other hand, most of the audience was stunned by the extremely strong reaction from Pidge onscreen at the mention of Kerberos mission.

 **_“What did you say?” The instructor snarled. Lance slapped his hand over Pidge’s mouth._ **  
****

**_“Sorry, sir. I think he hit his head when he fell out of his chair. But point taken.” He gave the instructor a winning smile._ **  
****

Pidge sent a grateful smile at Lance.  
****

“I don’t think I ever thanked you for all the times you looked out for me.” She told him apologetically. Lance waved her off.

“Not necessary.” He dismissed.

“Yeah,” Hunk piped up from Pidge’s side. “It’s apparently his natural instincts or something.”

“Comes with having six siblings.” Lance said as way of explanation.

 **_“I hope I don’t need to remind you,” The instructor said lowly, walking towards Lance until he was towering over him. ”That the only reason you’re here is that the best pilot in your class had a discipline issue and flunked out.”_ **  
****

**_“Don’t follow in his footsteps.” The look on Lance’s face was that of a kicked puppy._ **  
****

Ulaz frowned.  
****

“That is a terrible way to eradicate the rebellion in those with disciplinary problems.” Thace glanced at him. Ulaz explained further. “It seems this boy, Lance, is fueled by challenges to his skill, and his adequacy. Holding over his head the constant reminder that he has only gotten as far as he has due to the errors of those better than him, than the successes of his own efforts, is not going to help encourage him to strive to improve.” He leaned back in his seat. “Undoubtedly, the boy likely has growing self doubt and is questioning his self worth in terms of overall impact made from his actions.”

“So he’s basically crushing the boy into the ground when he should be helping him rise up.” Antok summarized from his side, in a monotone voice. Ulaz almost pouted.

“Yes, basically.” He agreed, in a dejected tone.

**_“Next!”_ **

Keith snorted, and Lance frowned at him. Glancing over at the other boy, Keith directed a small smile at him.  
****

“Well it looks like the joke’s on him isn’t it?” He told Lance solemnly, mouth quirked. Lance blinked. “After all,” Keith continued. “You three just so happen to be part of one of the most important teams in the universe that actually requires the highest amount of sync and coordination physically possible between separate individuals. And you guys happen to be damn good at it.”

Lance looked at the other boy, his mouth slightly agape. A fluttering grew in his chest at the dark haired boy’s smile and twinkling eyes. _Not now gay feelings._ Instead Lance offered a warm, non taunting smile in return.

“You proved him wrong too, remember? You’re the right hand man who follows orders without hesitation—, uh,” Lance fumbled, when seeing Keith’s eyebrows furrow. “I mean, that doesn’t sound like something that adds up with discipline issues, huh?” He stammered out. Keith snickered, closing his eyes in amusement, before gazing back at Lance, patting him on the shoulder comfortingly.

“Thanks, buddy.” He turned back to the screen, once again missing the way Lance’s face went aflame at the contact.

 **_“Lights out in five! Everyone back to their dorms, now.”_ **  
****

**_“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Hunk and Lance had changed out of their flight suits, and were peering around the corner._ **

**_“You heard Commander Iverson. We need to bond as a team.” Lance said suavely. “We’re going to grab Pidge, hit the town, loosen up, meet some nice girls—,”_ **  
****

“Why always girls?” Pidge demanded, not entirely serious, but still curious. Lance shot her a flat look.

“Because of the homophobia shared by at least half of society.” He deadpanned. Pidge paused.

“True.” She agreed.

**_The lights turned off._ **

**_“I-I-I’m just saying this here, right now, on the record. This is a bad idea.”_ **  
****

“There is a thin line between bad ideas, and great ideas. The great ideas are the ones that work out alright.” Lance uttered in a wise tone.

 **_“You know, for someone in a space exploration program, you don’t have much of a sense of adventure.” Lance noted, stealthily making his way down the halls with Hunk trailing behind him._ **  
****

**_“All of your little adventures end up with me in the principal’s office.” Hunk said. As Lance continued sneaking along, he sighed and hunched over. “Oh, man.”_ **  
****

“You’re a good friend.” Lance informed Hunk, shooting him a beaming smile. Hunk smiled back.  
****

“Someone’s got to do the job right.” Hunk joked.

 **A helmeted guard walked up the dark hallway.**  
****

**_“L-5 north all clear.” He spoke into his radio. When he was gone, the flaps to the recycling bins the guard had walked past, flipped open. Lance and Hunk checked to see if the coast was clear._ **  
****

“That’s surprisingly clever?”  
****

**_Lance popped out of the bin like a cat. Hunk not so much. The larger boy yelled as he crashed to the floor._ **  
****

“The big Earthling does not seem to be good at stealth.”

 **_Hunk flew to his feet. “I’m fine.” He said. Before he had a chance to walk far, Lance grabbed Hunk’s arm and yanked him down a side hall when a door in front of them slid open._ **  
****

“At least someone values the importance of stealth, and remaining unseen.” Blatz said, shooting a knowing grin at Alfor who sputtered in protest, much to his daughter’s amusement.  
****

“It was one time!”

“One of many.” Gyrgan crowed at the embarrassed Red Paladin.

“An eager alchemist at heart~.” Trygel sang gleefully, joining in on the teasing.

**_Pidge emerged with a backpack, darting down the hall._ **

Trygel gasped, throwing out a hand to silence her fellow paladins.  
****

“Look, it’s my child!” She cheered.

“Trygel, for the last time—,”

 **_“Where is he going?” Lance muttered, eyes narrowed down the hall the way their communication officer had gone._**  
****

**_The screen changed to the roof, where Pidge sat, tech set up around them. Their eyes were closed in absolute concentration. Lance grabbed the side of their headphones and spoke into their ear._ **

**_“You come up here to rock out?” Pidge screeched, arms flailed._ **

Laughter burst out at the Earthling’s reaction.

 **_“Oh, Lance, Hunk. No, um, just looking at… stars.” They said weakly._ **  
****

“You gotta admit, Pidge.” Lance said. “That’s kind of weak.” Pidge scowled at him.

“You snuck up on me, _literally_. I wasn’t expecting to have to make up an excuse.” She sniffed in displeasure.

**_“Man, where’d you get this stuff?” Lance questioned. “It doesn’t look like Garrison tech.”_ **

**_A smug look appeared on Pidge’s face. “I built it.”_ **

The audience eyed the equipment with new interest. To those more educated, it looked fairly adequate when compared with the tech designed by the professionals of the Earthlings’ race.  
****

“Trygel, please take a deep breath.” Gyrgan pleaded the green paladin who had been gaping at the scene after the small Earthling’s proud declaration. She turned slowly to look at Gyrgan, shocking him when he spotted the tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m so proud of my child.” She whispered.

 **_“You built all of this?” Hunk spoke in disbelief, reaching for the tech. Pidge slapped his hands away._ **  
****

“Hunk you gotta stop touching Pidge’s stuff.” Lance advised the yellow paladin, who pouted.  
****

“But I’m a very curious person, and her stuff is always so interesting~…” He whined in protest.

**_“Stop it.” They chastised. “With this thing, I can scan all the way to the edge of the solar system.”_ **

Trygel looked like she was a few seconds from bubbling over with pride.  
****

“You don’t even know this child.” Zarkon told her. “Why are you so invested in them?” Trygel held a hand to her chest.

“I feel a connection to this child, in mind and spirit.” She babbled happily, an untamable smile on her face. The other Paladins stopped questioning her.

 **_Lance looked impressed, chin resting in his hand. “That right? All the way to Kerberos?” He smiled deviously at her._ **  
****

**_Pidge looked away, grumbling._ **  
****

**_“You go ballistic every time the instructors bring it up.” Lance exclaimed loudly. “What’s your deal?”_ **  
****

“Not really subtle, Pidge.”

“Shaddup.”

 **_“Second warning, Hunk!” Pidge glared at Hunk, who had grabbed one of Pidge’s scanner dishes. Hunk groaned._ **  
****

**_“Look, Pidge, if we’re going to bond as a team, we can’t have any secrets.” Lance stressed his words, staring down the small Earthling._ **

“Well, I guess guilt tripping is one way to go, to get someone to open up…”  
****

**_Pidge’s shoulders hunched inward. “Fine. The world as you know it is about to change.” They said. “The Kerberos Mission wasn’t lost because of some malfunction or crew mistake- STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!”_ **

Many of the more audio sensitive aliens cringed at the yell, and mentally scolded the larger Earthling for being so constantly intrusive to actually make the smaller Earthling reach that point of frustration.  
****

**_Hunk flopped over dejectedly._ **  
****

“Oh, you big baby.” Pidge chided Hunk, who only huffed in response.  
****

**_“So, I’ve been scanning the system,” Pidge continued. “And picking up alien radio chatter.”_ **  
****

Some of the Galra frowned.  
****

“You don’t suppose it’s ours, do you?” One whispered.

“Impossible.” Another scoffed quickly in reply. “No one can hack into our frequencies.”

**_Hunk sat up quickly. “Whoa. What? Aliens?”_ **

**_“Okay. So, you’re insane. Got it.” Lance said._ **  
****

“Wow, okay, rude.”

“You do know how you sounded, right? From an outsider’s viewpoint?” Lance said in defense.

 **_“I’m serious.” Pidge growled. “They keep repeating one word, ‘Voltron.’” They lifted up a notepad, with a little doodle of a robot warrior. Lowering it, they continued with a grim expression. “And tonight, it’s going crazier than I have ever heard it.”_ **  
****

“I love how you automatically assumed it was a giant robot with a giant, flaming sword.”Hunk snickered, finally getting a good luck at the notepad this time around.  
****

“Well, I wasn’t wrong.” Pidge pointed out.

“… Holy shit.” Lance gasped. He turned to gape at her in awe. “Tell me the future.” He begged.

 **_“How crazy?” Lance said in disbelief._ **  
****

“Cue sirens.” Pidge spoke pointedly.  
****

**_Alarms started going off and Iverson’s voice was emitted over the Garrison’s PA. “Attention, students. This is not a drill. We are on lockdown! Security situation Zulu-Niner. Repeat: all students are to remain in barracks until further notice.”_ **  
****

“I don’t want a hear a word from you Pidge-,”

“But I thought you wanted me to tell you the future?” She replied innocently. Lance moaned, sinking down into his seat dramatically, much to the amusement of Keith next to him.

**_“What’s going on?” Hunk said, rising to his feet. He looked around before gasping “Is that a meteor?” Hunk pointed up at the sky. There was a large object incoming, bright red as it broke through the atmosphere._ **

Many of the aliens leaned forward in anticipation.  
****

**_“A very, very big meteor?”_**

 **_Pidge picked up a pair of binoculars on their bag. “It’s a ship.” Lance grabbed the binoculars to look through them as well, and Pidge yelped, still hanging on._ **  
****

**_“Holy crow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing! That’s not one of ours.”_ **  
****

“That’s a Galra ship.” A Galra spoke in realization.  
****

**_“No. It’s one of theirs.” Pidge said breathlessly._**

 **_“So, wait. There really are aliens out there?”_ **  
****

“Yup.”

“But they’re so much prettier looking.” Lance grinned.

**_The ship crashed into the ground behind a grouping of cliffs.Garrison vehicles turned on, and filtered out of the base making a beeline for the crash site._ **

“That was fast.” An alien noted.  
****

**_“We’ve got to see that ship!” Pidge said with excitement. Lance followed Pidge, calling behind him._ **

**_“Hunk, come on!”_ **  
****

“Children, what are you doing?” Trygel screeched in worry.  
****

“They’ll be fine.” Alfor told the distressed paladin comfortingly.

 **_"Oh, this is the worst team-building exercise ever.” He groaned, but followed after them._ **  
****

“It builds character. And a higher pain tolerance. And patience.” Lance listed off on his fingers. Hunk sent him a look.

“Not appreciating the sarcasm, man.”

 **_The scene changed to show the trio again. They were situated away from the crash site, looking down below through binoculars._ **  
****

Some of the Blades nodded in approval.

“A very strategic viewing position.” Kolivan complimented, begrudgingly. A few of his fellow Blades raised their brows at him, surprised at even the small praise he had given.

**_“Whoa! What the heck is that thing?” He gasped, spotting the alien craft. “And who the heck is she?_ **

“Eww, Lance.” The others made faces of discomfort. “She had to have had at least a decade or two on you, man.” Pidge complained.

“How desperate are you to get into someone's pants?” Keith grumbled quietly.  
****

**_“Lance!” There was a sound of a punch and Lance let out a cry of pain._ **

**_“Right, alien ship.” Lance reminded himself, getting back to the task at hand. “Man, we’ll never get past all of those guards to get a look.”_ **  
****

**_“Aw, man.” Hunk sighed exaggeratedly. “Yeah, yeah, I guess there’s nothing left to do but head back to the barracks, right?” He moved to leave._ **

“Stay out of trouble, little ones.” Zarkon murmured, staring at the screen. The other paladins seemed to share his thoughts- even Trygel, who looked concerned at the possible danger that the Earthling child she had grown attached to was in.  
****

**_“Wait.” Pidge said, and Hunk and Lance looked over. “They set up a camera in there and I grabbed its feed. Look!”_ **  
****

“Welp, all bets are off now, folks.” Pidge joked. “Curiosity killed the cat.” Keith frowned.  
****

“But satisfaction brought him back?” He said slowly. Pidge winked at him.

“Exactly.” She snickered. Lance grinned proudly at Keith.

**_The three cadets look at Pidge’s screen._ **

**_On it they see Shiro, strapped down on a table._ **  
****

Gasps echoed around the room.  
****

“Isn’t that the Earthling from the beginning?”

“How did he manage to escape a Galra prison?”

“How is he still alive after being held by the Galra for a year? You would think they would have picked him apart by now.”

Lotor’s generals watched him, not daring to voice what they were all thinking. _Not important, huh?_

“It seems I underestimated the Earthling and his relevance to the plot of the story.” He admitted, staring at the Earthling on the screen.

“Ah~, that’s alright Lotor!” Ezor chimed in, leaning forward. “It’s always a 50/50 chance with characters in the opening of shows, right? Either they’re just a way to move the plot into motion, or they _run_ the plot- but you never really know for sure. Isn’t that right, Zethrid?” She crooned the last bit to the tallest Galra female of the group, whose eyes narrowed at themischievous, colorfully skinned general.

“Why are you asking me?” Zethrid snapped at Ezor. The other female fluttered her eyes innocently at Zethrid.

“Well, I just assumed,” She said sweetly, allowing a devious grin to slip onto her face. “Seeing as how you’re always watching those holodramas, that you would know best.” Zethrid spluttered in shock.

“Ezor, leave Zethrid alone.” Lotor told her without looking. “Besides,” He added. “You are equally as guilty.” Axca choked back a laugh as Ezor froze in embarrassment.

Narti simply shook her head, stroking Kova who rested comfortably on her shoulder.

**_“Hey! What are you doing?” Shiro protested on the screen._ **

**_“Calm down, Shiro. We just need to keep you quarantined until we run some tests.” Spoke Commander Iverson._ **

**_“You have to listen to me!” Shiro was panicking, struggling against the restraints. “They destroy worlds! Aliens are coming!”_ **  
****

**_Lance gasped, pointing at the screen. “That’s Shiro! The pilot of the Kerberos Mission! That guy’s my hero!”_ **  
****

Lance blushed in his seat, when Shiro sent a smile his way.

“Shiro the Hero.” Pidge chuckled conspiringly to Hunk. Hunk snorted.

“It seems that Earthling crew was very famous.” Ulaz said with a tilt to his head.

 **_Hunk raised a brow. “Guess he’s not dead in space, after all.”_ **  
****

**_“Where’s the rest of the crew?” Pidge asked._ **  
****

None of the other alien species said it out loud, but they pitied the other two Earthlings from this ‘Shiro’s’ crew, who had likely met fates much worse than that of the Earthling Shiro’s arm.  
****

**_“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” Iverson asked Shiro._ **  
****

**_“I don’t know. Months? Years? Look, there’s no time. Aliens are coming here for a weapon. They’re probably on their way. They’ll destroy us. We have to find Voltron.”_ **  
****

**_“Voltron!” Pidge exclaimed, sharing a look with Hunk and Lance._ **  
****

**_“Sir, take a look at this. It appears his arm has been replaced with a cyborg prosthetic.”_ **  
****

Thace grimaced in sympathy.

“It looks like the Druids got their hands on him.” He commented. Kolivan turned to the other Blade.

“Were they’re experiments reaching capacity to be tested on other species before we arrived here?” He asked Thace stoically. Thace didn’t answer, glancing back at the flawless mutilation done to the male Earthling and the scars that had inflicted upon his body.

“No.” He said, finally, but he nodded to the screen. “But it seems that it was not fully tested. It seems that overexposure to quintessence has placed a sizable amount of stress on the Earthling’s body. Look at his hair; it has grown white with what I can only assume, is age.”

**_“Put him under until we know that thing can do.” Iverson ordered._ **

**“** Perhaps wise in any other situation.” Lotor disapproved scathingly. He clicked his tongue. “Time is not a resource this foolish Earthlings have enough of to spare so cautiously.”  
****

“Well, we’ve already seen how under-evolved this species is already.” Zethrid cackled. “Is it really that surprising that their stupidity will continue to amaze us? Weak minds make weak opponents.”

 **_Shiro’s eyes widened._ **  
****

**_“No, no, no, don-don’t put me under! No! There’s no time!”He yelled, struggling against the suited Earthlings._ **  
****

“And of course the only rationally thinking one there is being perceived as insane by the rest of his species.” An Olkarion muttered.

 **_“They didn’t ask about the rest of the crew.” Pidge observed, an unidentifiable tone in their voice._ **  
****

**_“What are they doing? He’s a legend. They’re not even gonna listen to him?” Lance added, baffled._ **

Another Olkarion looked to the one that had spoken before. “Not all of his species.” They corrected.  
****

**_Pidge looked at Lance. “We have to get him out.”_ **  
****

Iverson sighed, unheard by the rest of the Garrison staff. When he wanted this group of brats to learn to work together- _this was not what he meant damn it._  
****

Next to him, Harris smirked at the pained expression on his colleague’s face as he stared in dread and frustration at the screen.

**_“Uh, I hate to be the voice of reason here, always, but weren’t we watching on TV because there’s no way to get past the guards?”_ **  
****

**_“That was before we were properly motivated.”_ **  
****

“Of course.”

“I don’t appreciate your sarcasm, Hunk.”

 **_“We’ve just got to think. Could we tunnel in?”_ **  
****

**_“Maybe we could get some hazmat suits and sneak in like med techs.” Pidge suggested gleefully, jumping on board immediately._ **  
****

**_“Or we dress up like cooks, head back to the dorms, sneak into the commissary— little late-night snack.” Hunk said encouragingly._ **

**_Lance and Pidge stared at him._ **  
****

**_“No.” Lance said. “What we need is a distraction.”_ **

**_Suddenly, as if on cue, explosions went off in the distance._ **  
****

Shouting echoed in the room at the sudden booms onscreen.  
****

**_“Is that the aliens? Is that the aliens? Are they here? They got here so quick!” Hunk stammered, falling to his knees and arms covering his head._ **  
****

**_“No, those explosions were a distraction,” Pidge said, pointing. “For him.”_ **  
****

“Hey, look Lance.” Pidge chimed in. “Here comes your boyfriend.” She cooed at the Blue Paladin, who began to sputter in denial. Hunk grinned at the color spreading across the Red Paladin’s face, the same pigment as his lion.  
****

**_The screen showed a hover bike approaching the crash site. “The Garrison’s headed towards the blast, and he’s sneaking in from the other side.”_ **  
****

“Simple but effective.” Alfor hummed, shifting his daughter in his lap, who had barely flinched from the sudden explosions that had emitted from the screen.

“Didn’t the ship just crash, though?” Blatz frowned. “How could have he set up those explosions so quickly?”

 **_“No way!” Lance exclaimed. “Oh, he is not going to beat us in there! That guy is always trying to one-up me!”_ **  
****

“He recognizes this Earthling as well? Do all Earthlings know each other?”

“But they all look so different?”

 “Maybe that is why they are all so identifiable?”

 **_“Who is it?” Hunk asked._ **  
****

**_“Keith!”_ **

“Are we supposed to know who that is?”  
****

**_“Who?” Pidge asked, confused._ **  
****

**_“Are you sure?” Hunk questioned in bewilderment._ **

**_“Oh, I’d recognize that mullet anywhere!”_ **  
****

“It’s not a mullet!” Keith yelled. Lance snickered.  
****

“Sure looks like it to me.” He said, half-heartedly hiding his smile behind a hand. Keith huffed.

“Well, if I have one, than you do too!” Keith shot, reaching a hand out to yank at the long hairs stretching down the back of Lance’s neck. Lance froze at the contact, eyes growing wide.

“Your hair is growing a bit long, Lance.” Shiro supplied, not seeming to catch onto Lance’s blush as Hunk and Pidge had.

 Keith’s eyes moved to meet Lance’s the situation catching up to him belatedly and he yanked his hand back as if he had been scalded, averting his gaze.

 **_“Who’s Keith?” Pidge yelled. The trio slid down the side of the hillside._ **  
****

**_The screen switched to inside the containment area._ **  
****

**_“These readings are off the chart.” One of the med tech said flabbergasted._ **  
****

_It must be the quintessence infused within the Earthling’s arm,_ Haggar thought to herself. It looked like her handiwork, so who knew what she had done to it.  
****

**_The door to the room opened, and all three heads turned. A dark haired boy stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed._ **  
****

“Enter Keith.” Pidge monotoned. “Ready to fight anyone and everyone.”  
****

**_“Hey!” The three suits ran towards Keith, who leaned back, raising his fists. The three suits went flying. Keith jumped over their bodies to reach the table._ **  
****

“That Earthling seems to be trained in combat.” Thace noticed.  
****

“And have some skill in it as well.” Antok added more quietly.

 **_He pulled down his mask, hand reaching out to tilt Shiro’s head._ **  
****

**_Keith’s eyes widened upon recognizing who it was, eyes filled with a mix of emotions._ **

**_“Shiro?” He breathed._ **

“It seems this one recognizes the Earthling as well.” A Galra said.  
****

“Zanack! Do all Earthlings know each other?”

“Did the Earthling not know who he was rescuing?” Trygel thought out loud.

“Everything about this situation seems strange.” Alfor replied.

 **_Keith had Shiro’s non prosthetic arm slung over his shoulder when the Garrison trio walked in._ **  
****

**_“Nope. No, you— no, no, no. No, you don’t. I’m saving Shiro.” Lance said in protest, shoving the table Shiro had been on aside._ **  
****

“Holy fuck, you can both save Shiro, okay?!”  
****

“ _Pidge-,_ ”

 **_“Who are you?” Keith asked, as Lance wrapped Shiro’s other arm over his own shoulder._ **  
****

“Oh…”

“Apparently, not all Earthlings _can_ recognize each other.”

Meanwhile, Lance was cringing, mind already reliving this moment over and over in his head.

 **_“Who am I? Uh, the name’s Lance.” He said, staring at Keith. When Keith didn’t respond, he continued. “We were in the same class at the Garrison?”_ **  
****

“This must be that other pilot that was expelled.” Ezor oohed at Axca’s conclusion.  
****

“So that’s the best pilot the Earthlings have to offer, huh?” She drawled.

“Looks pretty small.” Zethrid scoffed. In front of them, Lotor scoffed.

“Size does not necessarily equal strength, Zethrid.” Zethrid’s ears flattened in embarrassment.

“Yes, sir.” She replied meekly.

 **_“Really? Are you uh, an engineer?” Keith asked. Lance pouted in offense._ **  
****

**_“No, I’m a pilot! We were, like, rivals. You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck.”_ **  
****

“Apparently not,” An alien snickered. “If your so called ‘rival’ can’t even remember you.”  
****

“Anything would be better though than that piloting that was done earlier.” Another added, chuckling.

**_“Oh, wait.” Keith said than, eyes narrowed. “I remember you. You’re a cargo pilot.” He shot._ **

“That might explain a few things.” Trygel stated. The other paladins turned to her. “There is likely different protocols and procedures done for cargo pilots than fighter pilots, correct?” She asked, pointedly.  
****

**_“Well, not anymore. I’m fighter class now, thanks to you washing out.” Lance snapped._ **

**_“Well, congratulations.” Keith responded dully._ **

“Well, he doesn’t seem to care much.” Blatz said, a lopsided smile on his face. A small part of him did ache a little for the taller Earthling. He obviously did try hard, but his efforts seem to only be viewed as lackluster and not meeting up to par with his predecessor. And if what Trygel had mentioned was correct… then that meant the boy had had to relearn everything he thought he knew about piloting to fill the spot.  
****

Blatz decided that he would be rooting for this boy. After all, Trygel had already picked a favorite, hadn’t she?

**_Meanwhile Hunk was looking through binoculars to see the Garrison coming back from the explosions._ **

“Those four are in so much trouble…” Iverson growled to himself. Harris heard him, and snorted.  
****

“If we can get them, that is.” Iverson shot a look at the other man, who raised a brow in challenge. “You do realize they have Keith Kogane with them right?”

**_“Oh, man. They’re coming back and they do not look happy. We’ve got to go.” Pidge and Hunk ran to catch up with Keith and Lance who were carry Shiro to Keith’s hover bike._ **

** _"_ _Uh, do you mind if we catch a ride with you?” Hunk said, hopping onto the back of the bike without waiting for an answer._ **

**_“Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?” Pidge yelled at Keith._ **  
****

**_“No.” Keith growled back._ **  
****

“Au contraire, mon ami, just wait and you shall see.” Lance contradicted, holding up a finger. Pidge raised an eyebrow.  
****

“You know French?” She said skeptically. Lance did a dramatic gasp, pressing a hand to his chest in offense.

“I am insulted, Pidge! I happen to be fluent in _many_ languages!”

“Twenty, to be exact.” Hunk added helpfully. Ignoring the looks of shocks from the other paladins, Lance continued, unperturbed.

“Soon to be twenty-two, once I master Galran and Altean.” He spoke nonchalantly.

“What?” Keith choked.

“Lance got into the Garrison with his credentials as a linguist.” Hunk explained. “He may not be able to speak ‘tech’ like Pidge and I, but he can speak just about any other language, you can think of.”

“I don’t believe it.” Pidge said flatly. Lance only winked at her.

“I’ll prove it to you all, later.” He told them charmingly.

 **_“Why am I holding this guy?” Pidge asked out loud._ **  
****

“No offense, Shiro.” Pidge said quickly, to the Black Paladin, who only looked at her surprised.

“Why would I take offense? We didn’t fully know each other.” Pidge relaxed.

**_“Hey, we did all fit.” Hunk noticed cheerfully. Lance glanced back at the Garrison vehicles on their tail._ **

Lance shot Keith a knowing look that had Keith rolling his eyes.  
****

**_“Can’t this thing go any faster?” He asked Keith._ **  
****

**_"We could toss out some non-essential weight.” Keith threw back flippantly._ **  
****

**_“Oh, right!” Lance exclaimed in agreement, looking around the hover bike._ **  
****

**_“Okay, so that was an insult. I get it.”_ **  
****

“Took you long enough.”

“Oh, _shut it,_ Mullet-,”

“Both of you, knock it off!”

 **_“Big man, lean left!” Keith called back to Hunk. Hunk obliged, and behind them two Garrison vehicles wiped each other out._ **  
****

**_“Aw, man!” Hunk cried. Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!… No, no. He’s fine.” He corrected._ **  
****

Professor Montgomery smiled softly from amongst the Garrison staff despite herself. That boy had always had a soft, caring heart. The only problem was how much trouble that friend of his tended to land him in.

**_“Big man, lean right!” Keith called again. The hover bike soared off the edge of the cliff onto another cliff. Everyone on the hover bike yelled as they went flying, the Garrison vehicles right behind them. One of the vehicles went rolling as they all went careening around the curve of the cliff. Pidge was screaming the loudest._ **

“He’s not bad.” Alfor commented begrudgingly. “He seems to have adjusted remarkably fast to the weight difference than what he is no doubt unused to flying with.”

**_Only one vehicle remained._ **

**_“Guys?” Hunk said stammering. “I-i-i-i-is that a cliff up ahead?”_ **  
****

**_“Oh, no, no, no!”_ **  
****

**_“Yup.” Keith said, grinning as he revved the engine of the bike._ **  
****

**_“No, no, no!” The bike accelerated and they went soaring off the edge._ **  
****

“And this is why Shiro leads Voltron, and not Keith.” Lance told the group.  
****

“Yup!” Keith agreed far too quickly, looking at Shiro as he said it. “Definitely not the best choice for a leader.” Shiro looked back at Keith unimpressed.

Lance stared at Keith, who had actually agreed with him over something that was kind of an insult to Keith himself.

“He has his own redeeming qualities, though.” Lance added quietly. The others snickered as the Blue Paladin’s face grew bright red after he said this.

Keith didn’t hear this, to Lance’s great relief.

 **_All of the kids screamed as they fell out of sight. Behind them the last vehicle came slamming to a halt at the edge._ **  
****

“I feel like we should be concerned?” Gyrgan whispered to his fellow Paladins. But everyones’ focus was on the screens in front of them, with all their enraptured attention.

 **_“What are you doing?” Lance screeched as they fell. “You’re going to kill us all!”_ **  
****

**_“Shut up and trust me!” Keith growled back. Right before they hit the bottom, Keith revved the fuel and they jolted before they smashed into the ground._ **

**_The hover bike sped off into the distance, the last vehicle watching from the cliff’s edge._ **  
****

“Told you to trust me.” Keith grumbled. Lance glanced at him.  
****

“I do.” Lance murmured. Keith’s eyes widened, and Lance’s heart caught in his throat. _Shit, he heard me._ “Uh, just not any of your decisions- cause they are bad~!” Lance added quickly, trying to recover from his mortification. Keith pouted. _His pout is so cut- STOP IT._

“Whoa! That was so cool!” Kolivan’s head spun towards a small voice, where his eyes landed on a Galra kit. Their eyes glowed golden with adoration as they stared up at the screen. The kit turned to Kolivan. “Aren’t they amazing?” The kit chirped.  
****

Next to him, Thace recovered the quickest. “I suppose they are, little one.” He smiled softly at the small child. The kit absolutely _beamed_ at him, almost literally reeled over by the positive response from the gentle hearted Blade.

Without hesitation, the kit sat down in the small spot between Antok and Thace, seemingly at home amongst strangers.

Thace shared looks between Kolivan, and Ulaz, before glancing down at the kit.

“Where are your parents, little one?” The kit shrugged, avoiding the question.

“How old are you?” Thace continued. At this the kit smiled toothily, holding up his little hands. “I am seven.” He said proudly, displaying the number with his clawed fingers. “I like your tail.” He told Antok solemnly.

In response, Antok flicked the tip of said tail under the kit’s nose, extracting an adorable giggle from the small Galra child. While Antok distracted the small newcomer, Kolivan had a silent exchange with Thace and Ulaz, who both looked worryingly concerned about the kit’s parents’ absence.

 _Orphan, perhaps?_ Ulaz shook his head.

 _The kit shows no sign of withdrawal from socializing like an orphaned kit would. Likely he ran off._ Both looked at Thace, whose attention had drifted back to the kit in the short amount of time.

“What’s your name, little one.” Thace asked softly. The kit tilted his head, smiling innocently.

“My name is Laith. My Papa says it means ‘lion’ in a language back on his and Daddy’s planet.” He explained, making a small roar at the end of his sentence.

“Lion, huh?” Thace repeated, glancing at the others who seemed to catch it as well. The kit was likely a child of Voltron supporters than. The kit nodded in confirmation.

“My Papa said I’m the most fiercest lion he’s ever known! And,” The little kit grinned mischievously. He gestured for Thace to lean in, which he did, raising an eyebrow in amusement at the kit’s antics. The kit whispered something nearly inaudible to even the Galras’ ears, but whatever he told Thace made the Blade’s eyes widen in shock.

The kit giggled. “You look so funny right now.”

“What did he say to you, Thace?” Ulaz asked the shaken Blade. The kit, Laith gasped dramatically.

“No, you can’t tell them yet! It’s a secret!” He pleaded Thace with wide eyes. The kit looked over to Kolivan guiltily. “Although, my Daddy did say you were like family, too…..”

“So, I can tell them?” Thace coaxed from the small kit. Laith did a small nod. The Blade looked grimly at the other Blades around him, the other Blades in the row behind him having been attracted to the small Galra kit, leaning in as well.

“He says that his parents are Paladins of Voltron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit im dynig? editing is hard but I wanted to give you GUYS SOMETHING
> 
> I still have to edit the second half of part one of episode one
> 
> which eww that makes it feel like i haven't done much BUT THIS IS 10000 WORDS OK
> 
>  
> 
> Also Happy Halloween ya little shits I love you all
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **Edit: December 31st, 2017**
> 
>  
> 
> So to all of you dedicated readers, I'm not gonna be a dick and give you false hope by posting an author's note as an entirely new chapter.
> 
> This is not me saying I'm quitting this fanfic so don't be alarmed, just giving an explanation to why I've been radio silent for the past two months about.
> 
> I was in my freshman year of college, and I was suffering from severe depression, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder. I was contemplating suicide and was just generally in a horrible place. But the worst end result was that I got a suspension and now I am currently working to appeal that suspension so I can go back to school. Along with that, I had to confront my parents and explain everything that had happened the last few months which was probably the hardest thing in my life. My stepmom and my dad handled it very well, but my mother, who I had already had some tension between did not. She had emotionally manipulated me all my life and tried to do it then, so I cut myself off from her. I am now staying with my stepmom and dad indefinitely. 
> 
> That's some of the shit that I always felt like only happened in fiction tbh. So yeah, it's been a rough last few months and will be pretty stressful for the next month as well as I try to figure all this shit out. Don't doubt for a second though, that I'm not slowly adding bit by bit to the next chapter- it's just going really slow and I can't really promise an exact date of when it will be posted.
> 
>  
> 
> I would also like to again thank all of you, for all of your reviews, bookmarks, kudos and the like and I very much appreciate the support you have given this story of mine (Which ironically this usual type of cliche is given such negative feedback by some for being considered copyright) and I hope you will continue to give me your support even after such a long wait.
> 
> Happy New Year everyone!


	3. Lance is the ADHD Poster Child of the Century

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Examples: Touching mysterious, unknown cave drawings; knocking on potentially dangerous forcefields like doors; walking into UMCs (unidentified mechanical cats); attacking big ass alien spacecrafts with said UMC; and flying into magical, glowing, wormholes simply because a mystical, metal, space lion warmachine telepathically told you to and for some strange reason everyone else agreed that that WAS A FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC IDEA.
> 
> p.s. you're fucking grounded for life 
> 
> -Your Entire Family You Left Behind On Earth, You Idiot

It took a moment for the Blades to recover from this announcement. One of the younger Blades hesitantly cleared her throat. “What does the kit mean? How can that be possible?” She asked. “The kit is clearly full Galra-,”

“There is still much we do not know, Wamona.” Thace interrupted sternly. Wamona stiffened in her seat. “Most importantly being that we do not know the identities of any of the Paladins that this kit may be referring to.” Ulaz nodded in agreement. “The most we can do at this point in time is to wait and see how things unfold.” He glanced at the child sitting contently beside Thace and Antok. “And we can keep an eye on the young kit, and keep him safe from harm.” He reminded the others, bringing his group’s attention back to the dozens of rows around them, filled with Galra Empire soldiers.

The Blades subtly moved in, closing ranks around the kit who was oblivious to this exchange, his attention focused on the screen. His mouth was slightly agape, captivated in awe, and several Blades had to contain coos at the adorable expression made by the little Galra.

Across the large room, little Allura wriggled in her father's lap, spotting someone out of the original Paladins’ view. They all turned as a familiar head of orange hair came tumbling down the steps, landing unceremoniously at their feet.

"Coran!" She cried, blue eyes wide with worry as the older Altean twitched on the floor. Like a rubber band, he snapped to his feet, straightening the collar of his vest before gasping with relief.

"There you all are! I was getting extremely worried when I couldn't locate you amongst this endless crowd of Yagnisks! I had to swim over the audience like a rock diver!" The advisor exclaimed, making swimming motions to demonstrate to the others. The Paladins chuckled at the man's antics and Alfor smiled warmly.

"I'm grateful you were able to locate us, Coran. Please, sit." Alfor gestured to an empty section to his side, which Coran easily slid into.

"Don't mind if I do! Oh, and hello, Princess! You're looking lovely as always!" Coran cooed at the young Altean who giggled and waved at the mustached ginger.

_**The scene had changed. It was lighter now, likely dawn. Shiro was standing outside, looking into the distance, arms crossed.** _

"My, he looks strong. And heroic." Coran commented, thumbing the end of his mustache. "Reminds me of my husband. Ah, Elric, what a strapping Altean; he could li-," Alfor cleared his throat pointedly as the orange haired Altean began to get lost in his daydreams about his spouse. Coran straightened.

"Right, of course. Watching the show." He said innocently.

_**Keith approached him, laying a hand on his shoulder.** _

_**“It’s good to have you back.” The boy said to the older man softly.** _

“It seems those two Earthlings are very familiar with each other.”

“Maybe lovers?”

“No, I don’t think it’s that.”

_**“It’s good to be back.” Shiro replied sincerely.** _

_**“So, what happened out there?” Keith asked hesitantly. “Where… were you?”** _

“The question of the hour, ladies and gentlemen,” Pidge deadpanned. “Where in the fucking universe did Shiro go?” Shiro’s face contorted and he opened his mouth, but Lance interrupted him.

“Oh, please. Dad, just let Pidge say fuck.” Shiro made a choking noise at Lance’s words, keeling over. This drew a snicker from Keith and the others.

“Just accept it, Shiro.” Keith said, comforting the Black Paladin’s back in mocking comfort.

_**Shiro sighed. “I wish I could tell you.” He said sadly. “My head’s still pretty scrambled. I was on an alien ship, but somehow I escaped. It’s all a blur.”** _

A rebel snorted. "It's a miracle at all that you were able to escape." Besides them a dog-like alien frowned.

"Seems a little suspicious if you ask me. No one escapes from the Galra, especially on their own."

_**He turned to the red jacket Earthling in confused wonder.**   **“How did you know to come save me when I crashed?”** _

_**“You should come see this.” Keith told him, leading him back to the shack behind them.** _

Amongst the Blade, a female Galra stared in recognition at the screen, breath knocked from her and emotions swelling in her throat. She kept her face blank, but there were a few that seemed to observe that something had distressed her, and moved closer to her comfortingly. She shrugged off their silent reassurance; she did not deserve it after what she had done.

_**Keith pulled down a fabric covering… something. The other Earthlings stood in the shack staring at it as well. It was a board, full of pictures of landmarks and a map of the area. “What have you been working on?” Shiro asked in shock.** _

“Oh my god, Shiro. Can’t you see the conspiracy cork board?” Keith set his jaw at Pidge.

"Are you implying what I think you're implying?” The dark haired Paladin grumbled at the other’s tone. Lance snorted.

"You look batshit crazy, man." The Blue Paladin snickered at the dark haired boy who pouted.

"I'm not crazy!" Keith protested, face growing hot. Lance shrugged at him.

"Well we know that now." He drawled. "But, anyone spending a prolonged period of time in the desert alone is gonna mess with a person's mind."

_**“I can’t explain it, really.” Keith replied hesitantly. “After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kind of… lost and found myself drawn out to this place. It’s like something… some energy, was telling me to search.”** _

“Huh, so that’s what Kogane has spent his time doing.” An instructor muttered. Another instructor looked at them.

"You know, it's so easy to forget that Kogane wasn't just an amazing pilot, but had a good mind as well." They said out loud. Others hummed in agreement.

"Huh..." Shiro said. He turned to Keith curiously, if a bit suspiciously. "I never did asked you how you got kicked out."

"Ooh! I'm want to know too!" Hunk whined, shimmying closer. The others all looked at Keith expectantly, who grew a little wide eyed. 

"Uh...." He hesitated. Lance snorted, resting his chin as he looked at the Red Paladin with hooded eyes and a tilted smirk.

"Come on, hotshot, tell us the deets-," 

"Who even says that anymore." Pidge muttered. Lance ignored her.

"I wanna know what reason the best pilot in the Garrison got kicked to the curb. Cause there were a lot of rumors circulating around- all of them fucking crazier than the last." Keith frowned. It had been a difficult time. Losing Shiro, the only person that had ever believed him, and actually stuck around,  _disappearing_ and the stupid world never wanting to look further into it, to  _look_ for him, for the crew. He had felt like a caged animal, pushed against the bars with the handler coming at him with thick gloves and cattle prod and a masked face hiding evil intent. 

The moment he had snapped had been filled with red and yellow light and he had felt like broken glass cutting through paper. But it hadn't been paper. And it hadn't been glass. But there had been blood and yelling and pain.

That time had felt blurred and distorted, like a dream that he was clinging onto but was inevitably fading away with the morning. He remembered shouting, screaming. Baring his teeth and lashing out like a cat, claws out, and inflicting damage on anyone who made the mistake of coming close. That restless coiling beneath his skin had shifted and surged like molten lava and it had frightened him as much as it did everyone else. He didn't like recalling it.

He shot a glance at Lance's teasing face, seeing the poorly hidden curiosity and eagerness in his gaze, his body. And he remembered watching the screen as Iverson shouted at that same face. Made it frozen with hurt and pain that was not deserved. He smiled back at Lance, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," He drawled, leaning back in his seat casually, crossing his arms. The others watched the movement. Keith tilted his head. "Do you know why Iverson has a closed eye, permanently?" He asked them. The other Paladins all looked confused, before something seemed to dawn on Shiro and his jaw dropped.

"No...." He nearly whispered. While the others still looked lost, Shiro said simply.

"Before the Kerberos mission, Iverson could see just fine with  _both eyes_." He strained, looking tired. Keith shrugged, smirking as the Garrison trio realized what Shiro was stating.

"Holy shit." Pidge murmured. Hunk's jaw was gaping and his face seemed to be frozen in permanent shock. Next to Keith, Lance was choking.

"Oh,  _dios_ , fucking hell." The Blue Paladin was hugging his stomach and he tried to breathe between his laughter. He looked up at Keith, whose heart stuttered at the gleaming humor dancing in his eyes, cheeks flushed and a genuine grin on his face.

"You are my hero, sweet quiznak." He cackled, oblivious to the strangled whimpering coming from the Red Paladin.

"Alright, settle down everyone." Shiro chuckled. Internally, he reminded himself to talk to Keith more about what happened later, as he had a dreaded feeling that he had something to do with Keith's breakdown.

_**“For what?” Shiro said.** _

_**“Well, I didn’t really know at the time… until I stumbled across this area.” He pointed to a spot on the map, that was vigorously circled and marked up.** _

_**He continued. “It’s an outcropping of giant boulders with caves covered in these ancient markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues leading to some event, some arrival happening last night.” He turned to Shiro. “Then you showed up.”** _

"You spent way too much time alone, buddy." Hunk told Keith solemnly. Keith gave him a deadpan look.

"Yeah." Keith said flatly. "That's the thing about solitude. You spend a lot of time alone."

The Original Paladins exchanged looks as pictures of the carvings flashed by.

"You don't suppose-," Trygel spoke hesitantly.

"We must wait and find out." Zarkon said. Blaytz whimpered.

“What’s my Blue doing all the way out there?”

_**The two turned back to the Garrison trio who had been watching in silence.** _

_**“I should thank you all for getting me out.” Shiro addressed them.**   **“Lance, right?”** _

"Wait a second..." Lance said. "How did you know my name? I never thought about this, but I don't remember introducing myself to you or us ever meeting before the Kerberos mission." He turned to Shiro, brows furrowed. Shiro shrugged, the face of innocence.

"I was one of the assistant instructors; I suppose I  must have come across your file once or twice because you were a pilot, and it just stuck." He said, not looking at Keith between them, whose face matched the shade of his armor. Lance hummed, dissatisfied, but turned back to the screen.

Shiro held back the smirk that threatened to spread across his face, as he dared a glance at the Red Paladin, whose glare was directed at the screen, though he knew he was the one that was meant to be the target of it.

Ugh. This pining reminded him of Matt and himself in their early Garrison days.

_**Shiro took a step forward, extending his prosthetic hand for Lance to shake. Lance was about to shake his hand, before hesitating.** _

All over the room, various leaders watched the screen intently, gaze sharpening, as if waiting. Lotor, Kolivan, Zarkon, rebel leaders, and other various aliens and Earthlings who had seen the brutal costs of war and had learned to live with them watched the (unknowingly) future Blue Paladin.

_**He looked at the hand for a brief moment, before looking up at Shiro and smiling, accepting the handshake.** _

Shoulders relaxed, and heads nodded in approval, and underlings stared in curiosity and puzzlement about what had just happened.

_**This seemed to loosen the tension, and Shiro offered his hand to Pidge and Hunk as well. Pidge took the lead, shaking his hand as well.** _

_**“The nervous guy’s Hunk.” They said, gesturing to the boy in question. “I’m Pidge. So, did anyone else from your crew make it out?”** _

"Likely dead." A once imprisoned by the Galra, alien spoke quietly, shaking as they remembered the fates of their fellow prisoners.

Beside Lotor, Axca hummed in thought.

“This is fourth occasion the rest of this ‘Shiro’s crew, has been mentioned. Do you suppose they will be relevant in the future?” She turned to Lotor for his thoughts, whose gaze was focused on the screen, chin resting on his fist.

“It is possible, as they seem to be the catalyst that has brought this dramatic turn of events about. However, their fates are much more delicate and will undoubtedly have dire consequences no matter the outcome.” His generals frowned.

“What do you mean?” Ezor inquired curiously.

“That small Earthling seems to be emotionally involved in the concerns of the other two crew members, and _they_ are undoubtedly a relevant and important piece in this game.”

_**“I’m not sure.” Shiro said, looking away. “I remember the mission and being captured. After that, it’s just bits and pieces.”** _

Many in the audience grimaced empathetically, several feeling more intense loathing towards the Earthling officers that had restrained the escaped Galra captive as had been in obvious distress.

Ulaz shook his head disapprovingly.

“This Earthling obviously suffers from some traumatic effects to his mental stability and should have been treated much more precisely.” Pausing from twirling the end of Antok’s tail, Laith nodded harshly.

“My parents said it’s called PTSD.” He informed the Blades who turned to him. He straightened, preening under the attention. “It means Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” He sounded it out slowly, pronouncing it just as he had been taught. “It’s when you go through a really bad thing, and it effects how you live. Like how I climbed a tree once, but I fell and broke my arm and now I’m scared of heights! But a lot worse. Lots of my family has it,” He continued sadly, ears drooping, before perking up as he smiled. “But they say that being together and having fun helps- and me!” He beamed proudly. Antok rumbled next to him, scratching the top of the small kit’s head.

“I don’t know who wouldn’t feel better being around you.” He spoke sincerely. Laith gasped.

“Really?” He asked.

“Really.” Antok confirmed. Laith leapt at the large Blade, giving a large hug. His small arms couldn’t even reach halfway around the Galra’s waist but he gave it his best effort. The others smiled at the scene.

_**“Yeah, sorry to interrupt,” Hunk cut in. “But back to the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for all of us? Like, where are they at this very moment?” He rambled.** _

_**“I can’t really put it together. I remember the word, ‘Voltron.’ It’s some kind of weapon they’re looking for, but I don’t know why.” Shiro spoke, before looking up. “Whatever it is, I think we need to find it before they do.”** _

_**“Well, last night,” Hunk said, rummaging through Pidge’s bag. “I was rummaging through Pidge’s stuff, and I found this picture.”** _

"Does your nosiness know no bounds?!"

"In some matters, Hunk, you can be absolutely shameless.” Said Paladin looked unperturbed at his fellow teammates comments, shrugging.

_**He held up a picture of two chestnut haired Earthlings, one female and another male.** _

Amongst the rebels, a masked officer emitted a stuttering gasp.

_**“Look, it’s his girlfriend.” He said, grinning. Pidge snatched it out of his hands.** _

"Wow, Hunk, mighty fascinating deduction you made there. The family resemblance absolutely went over your head didn't it." Pidge stated dryly, cowing the Yellow Paladin.

_**“Hey, give me that! What were you doing in my stuff?”** _

Trygel glared at the large Earthling on screen.

“Keep your hands off my child’s stuff.” She threatened at the screen. The others around her sighed as Grygan tried to console her.

_**“Uh, well, I was looking for a candy bar.” Hunk said, like that explained everything. “But, then, I started reading his diary.” He said holding up a book.** _

There were sighs echoed from all around the theater.

_**“What?” Pidge screeched.** **Hunk continued, unperturbed.**_

_**“And I noticed the repeating series of numbers the aliens are searching for looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.”** _

"A what?"

"Is that some Earthling creature?"

_**“Frown who?” Keith parroted.** _

_**“It’s a number describing the emission spectrum of an element,” Hunk explained. “Only this element doesn’t exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron. And I think I can build a machine to look for it, like a Voltron Geiger counter.” He said excitedly.** _

Numerous aliens were gaping as they stared at the screen.

"Are you telling me, we could have just used this and not spent 10,000 years hunting down the Lions of Voltron on a whim?" A Galra General choked.

Several rebels hummed in excitement.

“Imagine if we were able to have _this_ being on our team. The possibilities!” The dog-like alien shot a glance at the masked officer from before.

“I suppose you would make a pretty great team, right? You are the sam-,” The masked officer shushed her.

“It’s not important right now, Olia. They’re still on their planet anyways, and their technology is primitive compared to most others’ species in our forces.” Olia looked at him, before nodding in content.

“I suppose you would be the expert in this department.” She said.

_**“Hunk, you big gassy genius!” Lance praised his friend.** _

_**“It’s pretty fascinating, really. The wavelength looks like this.” Hunk said bashfully, pulling out another piece of paper that had a pattern of zig zag lines. Keith snatched it out of his hands.** _

“Rude.” Hunk muttered, half jokingly.  Pidge raised a brow at him.

“Almost as rude as violating other people's’ privacy.” She said scathingly. Hunk stuck out a tongue at her.

_**“Give me that.” He walked over to the conspiracy board, holding it up in front a picture of boulder outcroppings. The others looked at what he was showing. The lines matched the cliffs to practically a tee.** _

The rowdy Earthling section, which had been suspiciously quiet, broke out with a loud shout.

“How does that even make sense!?” A voice wailed.

“Oh my god, shut up, we’re all fucking idiots here who don’t get this science shit and are just here for the space gays- _SIT DOWN_!” Screeching burst out and died as quickly as it started.

_**“Okay, I admit it. This is super freaky.” Lance said as the five of them stared at the cliffs in person.** _

_**Pidge and Hunk walked around with a piece of tech while the other three looked on.** _

“Dawww,” Lance cooed. “Look at the little science duo being adorable little science dorks.”

“Dawww,” Pidge mocked. “Look at the flirtatious, cocky asshole being a pining fool.” Lance’s face flushed.

“Shut up.” He hissed. “I don’t know what that even _means_.”  Hunk’s teasing glance popped out from around Pidge to waggle his eyebrows at the Blue Paladin.

“ _Sure~_ _you don’t_.” He drawled. Keith glanced at Shiro with amusement.

“Given up on trying to get her to stop swearing?” Shiro groaned and slumped in his chair as a response.

_**“I’m getting a reading.” Hunk said, walking forward, Pidge and the others in tow. The beeping from the device grew more and more erratic leading them down to the entrance of a cave.** _

_**The five Earthlings walked through the cave, varying expressions of awe and shock on their faces.** _

_**“What are these?” Shiro asked. All over the cave’s walls and ceilings were carvings of lions and other creatures.** _

Faintly, Lotor noticed the carvings to be similar to the ones in the caves he had studied himself. But they had been etched in by Alteans and there did not seem to be any Alteans on this planet, similar in appearance as they may be.

_**“These are the lion carvings I was telling you about.” Keith explained. Lance moved from the group to get a closer look at the wall. In the background Keith continued. “They’re everywhere around here.”** _

_**Lance leaned forward, swiping his hand over one of the carvings to brush off the dirt. Suddenly it and all the other carvings in the cave began to glow a bright iridescent blue.** _

“You ever consider that might have set off a trap?” Pidge wondered out loud. The others looked at Lance. He raised his hands in the air.

“I’ve got ADHD okay?! Sue me!” He yelped. "And who could have known that some ancient looking cave art, would be like, touch screen sensitive?"

_**“Whoa!” Lance gasped, stumbling back from the wall.** **The entire group gasped.**_

_**“They’ve never done that before.” Keith spoke, shook(eith).** _

_**The ground beneath the group began to glow and shake. Than it fell out beneath them.** _

“You know,” Lance murmured. “None of the others did stuff like this, right?” Pidge frowned.

"Maybe it was to keep intruders out. Humans have been known to be unnaturally nosy." At this, she shot a glare at Hunk, who pouted under the smaller Paladin's anger.

_**The Earthlings screamed, skidding down into a natural water slide.** _

****Despite the dangerous situation, many laughed at the screens of terror coming from the Earthlings as they slid down the rocky slope.

_**They all fell into another cave, landing in a shallow pool.** _

_**Lance was the first to rise, and he keeled back in shock. He gasped.** _

_**“They are everywhere.” The boy whispered.** _

_**In front of the group sat a giant metal blue cat, surrounded by a similarly glowing shield the same color the markings had been.** _

There were gasps from all around the theater.

“That’s- that’s,” Blaytz stammered up at the screen, the other original Paladins also sitting in shock.

“What is the Blue Lion doing there?” Alfor exclaimed.

Amongst the Earth Paladins, Lance grinned.

"There's my girl." He crowed proudly.

_**The group stood, staring up at the beast.** _

_**“Is this it? Is this the Voltron?” Pidge wondered out loud.** _

_**“It must be.” Shiro stammered.** _

_**“This is what’s been causing all this crazy energy out here.” Keith said in realization. He walked towards the lion. “Looks like there’s a force field around it.” he called back to the group, his voice echoing in the large cave.** _

_**The others followed behind him, Lance weaving side to side.** _

_**“Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?” He noticed. The others looked at him oddly.** _

Despite the tense situation, Blaytz cracked a toothy grin, chortling. “Aww, yes.” He eyed the blue eyed Earthling with renewed interest. He knew there had been something special about that kid. Like they were connected. And it seems they were. Literally.

_**".... No.” Shiro replied skeptically.** _

****"You know, that judgement was totally uncalled for, in light of the fact that we had literally just found a gigantic metal space cat in an underground cave in the middle of the desert." Lance sniffed.

_**“Yeah.” Lance continued weaving back and forth, eyes never leaving the giant lion. “The eyes are totally following me.”** _

“No way.” Pidge fake gasped. “It’s almost like the metal cat is a sentiment being."

_**Keith came to a stop in front of the force field. The lion’s eyes gleamed. “I wonder how we get through this.” Keith contemplated, pressing his hands against the shield. Lance came to a stop next to him casually.** _

_**“Maybe you just have to knock.” He drawled, doing just that. The shield flashed, and Lance recoiled, a blue, mist like energy expelling from the space between his hand and the shield.** _

Around the room, several narrowed their eyes at this. _That looks like Altean alchemy,_ Alfor, Haggar, and Lotor all thought to themselves.

_**Lance yelped, as the lion’s eyes glowed a bright yellow, and the force field around the lion dissolved.** _

_**Markings underneath the lion began to glow, and a surge of energy pushed upward, wind sweeping through the cave. The others made noises of surprise, watching as the light brightened. Lance stared up at the lion, eyes wide in shock.** _

Panicked shouts echoed in the giant room, as most feared for the young Earthlings' lives which seemed about to come to a swift end.

_**A vision appeared of a purple glowing lion followed by four others. They came together and a giant, magnificent metal warrior was formed, with the helm of a lion, gleaming eyes, and a flaming sword that swept through the air. Lightning surged through the sword and with a mighty swing, the warrior wielded his weapon. The five Earthlings stared in shock, awestruck.** _

The entire theater broke out into pandemonium. Less than a dozen had ever seen Voltron in their entire lives and to see it appear was breathtaking.

_**“Whoa.”** _

_**“Uh,” Lance stammered, looking back at the others, “Did everyone just see that?” He gestured in front of them.** _

_**“Voltron is a robot. Voltron is a huge, huge, awesome robot!”** _

_**“And this thing is only one part of it! I wonder where the rest of them are.”** _

_**“This is what they’re looking for.”** _

_**“Incredible.”** _

_**Then the lion began to rise to its feet, and Pidge and Hunk screamed. It crouched down in front of the Earthlings, opening it's maw to let down a hatch.** _

"It's letting them in? Just like that?" A Galra soldier murmured. He had the honor of working on Commander Sendak's ship where the Red Lion was currently housed. But despite all the upper command's attempts, the Red Lion had not lowered its shield to allow anyone inside.

_**The others were cautious, but Lance ogled in shocked awe as the walkway clearly opened in front of him. He shot quick glances at the others before grinning, striding forward.** _

"What is he doing?" Someone scoffed. "That terrible Earthling is going to try to pilot one of the greatest weapons in the Universe? He should step aside for someone better."

_**A door opened and Lance walked into what was undeniably a cockpit. He observed the chair, before cautiously sitting down it. The cocky pilot leaned back, smirking and crossing his arms.** _

_**“Here we go- AH!” He yelped as the seat lurched forward. The others piled in behind him. Around them, screens flickered to life, and they all watched as cave outside became visible. Lance laughed gleefully, while the others gasped in awe. “All right! Very nice!” Lance chucked in approval.** _

_**“Okay guys, uh, I just feel the need to point out, just so that we’re all, you know, aware. We are in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now.”** _

“Oh my god, Hunk, what was that face?!”

_**Suddenly, Lance gasped as a deep purring came from all around him.** _

The original Paladins all looked at each other. 

"So this boy is the next Blue Paladin, hmm?" Coran noted. "Let's see if he measures up to you, hey, Blaytz?" He winked at the Original Blue Paladin, who crossed his arms confidently. 

"Oh, I got faith in him." He boasted, cackling.

_**He spun to look at the others. “Whoa. Did you guys just hear that?” He gaped.** _

_**“Hear what?” Keith asked in confusion. Lance looked back at the front of the lion, startled.** _

_**“I-I think it’s talking to me.”** _

"Wait..." A Galra questioned hesitantly. "The lions are sentient?" A few next to him shuddered.

"Well that's terrifying to think about." Another grimaced.

_**He leaned forward staring intense concentration at the buttons in front of him. Hesitantly, he pressed a few buttons. The Blue Lion got to its feet, and roared. Pidge and Hunk screamed again.**_

_**Lance looked much more confident now, grasping onto two control handles.** _

_**“Okay. Got it.” He replied to someone that no one else could hear.** _ _**“Now, let’s try this.”** **Lance smirked, slamming the handles forwards.**_

"Why is it that I am not surprised that this would be an Earthling's first thought process when discovering an alien spacecraft?" A rebel said. In front of them, another turned around and raised an antenna at them.

"Wouldn't that be  _anyone_ 's first thought process?" The first rebel opened their mouth before snapping it closed. 

"You got me there."

_**The side of a cliff exploded. Out came the Blue Lion in a giant leap, flipping before rockets burst to life on it’s paws and it shot forward. It flew up incredibly fast, and inside the Earthlings were grasping onto Lance whose face looked less than pleased.** _

_**“You are, the, worst, pilot, ever!” Keith gasped, as the lion spun upside down. The screaming continued.** _

****_'Well, true a poor pilot he may be, the circumstances are not helped that the sophistication of that machine exceeds beyond any technology those Earthlings possess by far, and to judge the boy, by his ability to drive an unfamiliar craft seems a tad bit unfair_.' Narti signed to the others, feeling the need to defend the Earthling boy. Lotor acknowledged her statement before replying.

"On the contrary, sometimes a pilot's skill can be only be displayed  _when_ they handle an unfamiliar vessel. Though that is what most view as prodigal talent than just skill. Or perhaps instinct more than anything. A better judgement of piloting would be to see how well they  _adapt_."

"So what you're saying is-," Axca murmured. Lotor nodded.

"Despite his past piloting we've seen, depending on how fast he will adapt to this will show just how comfortable he truly is at the helm. He may very well have the potential to be an extraordinary pilot with time."

_**The screen changed to show Iverson with another Garrison staff member watching the blue lion erratically fly around in the air.** _

_**“What in the Sam Hill is that?” The man said in shock. The other staff member lowered his binoculars and looked at Iverson.** _

_**“It appears to be a flying blue lion, sir.”** _

****"So they _did_ see something out of the ordinary!" A female voice screeched amongst the humans.

"Mom, sit down." A boy next to the woman tried to coax the shorter female to sit back in her seat. 

"NO, I will not! That is my  _boy, my baby boy-_ ," The woman choked out a sob, and two others gently guided her back down.

"It's ok, Mom." The boy said. "Things are going to be okay."

"We might even figure out what happened to Lance through this." A girl said. The boy looked back at the girl, nodding in agreement.

"What Veronica said, Mom. We're just going to have to wait and see. There's nothing we can do about it right now, but watch." The woman sniffled, taking a shuttering breath, before wiping away her tears and nodding, smiling weakly at her children.

"Thank you Marco."

"Or course, Mom." The boy smiled. "He's my little brother. I'm worried about him too."

"Worried what kind of dumb shenanigans he'll get mixed up in is more like it." The third sibling said. The other two shot twin glares at him.

"Not helping, Luis." Veronica snapped.

_**The blue lion skid across the earth, running forward like the actual animal. Lance’s face was elated. He looked back at the others.** _

_**“Isn’t this awesome?” He grinned. Hunk lurched forward, a pained expression on his face.** _

_**“Make it stop. Make it stop.” He begged Lance.** _

****Among the Balmerans, Shay cooed.

"Oh, the poor thing." She said in worry for the pained Earthling.

_**“I’m not making it do anything.” Lance said. “It’s like it’s on autopilot.” The lion shot upwards.** _

_**“Where are you going?” Keith shouted at Lance.** _

_**“I just said it’s on autopilot!” Lance defended.** _ _**“It says there’s an alien ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.”** _

"WHAT?" Screeches and screams came from the human's section and the Garrison staff grimaced as they knew eventually that outrage would turn towards  _them_.

_**“What did it say, exactly.” Pidge asked him exasperated.** _

_**“Well, it’s not like it’s saying words. It’s more like feeding ideas into my brain, kind of.” Lance whined.** _

_**“Well, if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we just, I don’t know, give it to them? Maybe they’ll leave us alone.” The others all turned to look at Hunk. Hunk looked up apologetically at the ceiling of the lion. “Sorry, lion. Nothing personal.”** _

_**“You don’t understand.” Shiro told him seriously. “These monsters spread like a plaque throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path. There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything is dead.”** _

"Well damn."

_**The other Earthlings gave Hunk judging stares.** _

_**“Oh. Never mind then.”** _

_**The Blue Lion roared, breaking through the stratosphere right as Galra cruiser appeared out of nowhere.** _

_**The five Earthlings gasped.** _

_**“Holy crow! Is that really an alien ship?” Hunk gawked. Shiro looked rattled.** _  

_**“They found me.” He said.** _

Shiro took a deep breath, remembering the fear that had overtaken him at that moment at the thought of being captured again. He flinched as a hand rested on each shoulder. He looked side to side, seeing the others giving him reassuring smiles.

"They don't get you, remember? We get away, and we're all safe." Lance spoke softly.

_**Purple lasers began shooting from the large alien ship, and Pidge spun towards Lance. “We’ve got to get it out of here!” Lance lurched the controls back. “Hang on!” He shouted. The lion darted around the lasers frantically. “All right. Okay. I think I know what to do.” Lance told the others. Pidge skid in.** _

_**“Be careful, man. This isn’t a simulator!”** _

_**“Well, that’s good. I always wreck the simulator.” Lance laughed in relief.** _

****Something clicked in that moment.

" _Ohh_." Thace hummed in realization. The other Blades seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

"There's always that sense of security and leisure flying a simulator that will always hold you back."

_**Lance slammed one of the handles forward and from the lion’s mouth shot a bright beam of light that seared into the side of the cruiser, making explosions in its wake.** _

A rebel whistled.

"Now that's some firepower." He admired, nodding his head. "Wouldn't mind have one of those attached to our ship, huh, Beezer?" 

_**Lance grinned. “Let’s try this.”** **The Blue Lion flew like a seal through space, dodging all of the beams and raking its metal claws into the side of the ship, making even more explosions.**_

****A small smile flashed across Lotor's face.

"He seems to be a fast learner."

_**The Earthlings cheered.** _

_**“Nice job, Lance.” Shiro praised the pilot.** _

_**“Okay.” Lance said satisfied. “I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet.” The Blue Lion shot off into space.** _

Luis growled.

"You better come back, you idiot." He threatened his youngest brother on screen.

_**“Lord Zarkon,” It was the same Galra officer from earlier in the episode. “The escaped prisoner and his people found the lion. It attacked us and is heading out of the system.”** _

_**“Follow that lion and alert all ships in the area to intercept.” Zarkon spoke gravely from the large screen. “Capturing that lion is your first and only priority.” He snarled, eyes glowing an unnatural violet.** _

_**“Yes, Your Majesty.” The officer said. The screen with the emperor closed. “Full power after the lion!”** _

"Full speed ahead!" A voice cried out, immediately followed by snickering.

_**The Galra cruiser was in pursuit.** _

****"Man this feels like that scene in Star Trek." A girl said.

"Idiot, they're not in hyper-jump, they're just going really, really, really fast." A second girl said. The first girl waved her arms around.

"And is that not what hyper-jumping basically is?!" She yelled. The second groaned. 

"I give up on you." They grumbled.

_**“Oh, no!” Hunk moaned, his voice cracking.** _

_**“They’re gaining on us!” Pidge informed Lance starkly.** _

_**“It’s weird.” Lance observed. “They’re not trying to shoot us. They’re just chasing.”** _

****"It's cause they're trying to capture you and the lions." Kolivan supplied. Antok tilted his head at the Blade leader.

"You are aware they cannot hear you, right?" Laith giggled.

"It's okay. My aunt does it all the time when a soccer match is on the tv." The kit comforted the braided Galra.

_**“Okay, seriously, now we think having aliens follow us is good?” Hunk cried. “I am not on board with this new direction, guys.”** _

_**“Where are we?” Keith directed at Lance shortly. Near the lion was a very familiar moon.** _

_**“Edge of the solar system.” Shiro breathed. “There’s Kerberos.”** _

The Garrison and the humans were shocked. 

"The capabilities of that tech is amazing!" A technician gasped. 

"And to think this machine was sitting right in the Garrison's backyard the whole time." Another Garrison staff member breathed.

_**“It takes months for our ships to get out this far.” Pidge exclaimed in disbelief. “We got out here in five seconds.”** _

A few aliens frowned at this. 

"Either their system is very large, or these Earthlings have very primitive tech." An Olkarion said.

"Well considering they seemed to be an isolated planet with no contact, it's probably the latter." Another Olkarion spoke. "Perhaps they're a fairly new species."

_**There was a flash and suddenly a worm hole appeared in front of the blue lion.** _

****"Well at least we know Altea is involved." Blaytz commented. "Only Alteans can make a worm hole, right Alfor?"

_**“What is that?”** _

_**“Uh,” Lance stuttered. “This may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there.”** **An uneasy silence fell upon the Earthlings.**_

As did one upon the audience.

_**“Where does it go?” Pidge asked Lance quietly, nervously.** _

_**“** **I-I don’t know.” Lance answered. “Shiro, you’re the senior officer here. What should we do?” He glanced at the oldest of the Earthlings.**_

Kolivan nodded in approval. 

"Wise of the boy to defer to an older, more experienced peer than to take control simply because he is piloting."

_**“Whatever is happening, the lion knows more than we do. I say we trust it, but we’re a team now. We should decide together.” At this, Shiro looked around at the others.** _

_**The other four Earthlings made eye contact with each other, coming to an agreement.** _

Somehow, everyone in the theater knew that this was an important moment. The beginning of something big, monumental. The consequences of this decision would have effects that echoed across the universe. 

And the fact that five Earthlings, who barely knew each other, who were thrown into each others' path by coincidence- or perhaps  _fate_ \- were deciding as one, as a team on something that would take them farther than any of their species had ever gone- a species that had never met others off their planet, were likely the least prepared for meeting the Galra, and so  _uninformed_ of just what they were all getting into. 

These young Earthlings did not know where that wormhole went,  _what it even was_. They had not prepared for this, had not said goodbyes, or planned or even seemed to realize that that was the last time they might have ever seen their planet again. They had merely hopped into a strange mechanical lion and gone where it had taken them, would  _go_ where it wanted to take them, simply because.... Why? Why were they going this extra length?

That was what every alien asked themselves as they stared, captivated at the screen. 

_**Pidge was the one to place a hand on Lance’s shoulder. He looked over, seeming to receive his answer in Pidge’s firm gaze.** _

_**“All right.” He said, resigned. “Guess, we’re all ditching class tomorrow.” The lion soared through wormhole, which closed right before the Galra cruiser could reach it.** _

****"Are you fucking shitting me." Veronica deadpanned.

"I swear, I, I, I don't even think I'm even that surprised." Marco groaned, throwing his hands in the air.

Meanwhile the Garrison staff were silent.

"Well.... fuck. How are we gonna explain that to the media?" An instructor said flatly.

_**The lion shook, the Earthlings inside struggling to stay upright, groaning from the pressure.** _

"Apparently, the Altean managing the wormhole is a little new at it." Alfor noted, grimacing empathetically. 

_**They exited the wormhole next to a planet looking very similar to Earth.** _

_**“Whoa.” Lance stated numbly. “That was…” To his side, Hunk keeled over and vomited. Lance cringed away.** _

_**“So sorry.” Hunk apologized weakly before continuing to vomit. Pidge adjusted their glasses, undisturbed.** _

_**“I’m just surprised it took this long.” They said honestly. Shiro looked out the front window.** _

_**“I don’t recognize any of these constellations.” His brows furrowed. “We must be a long, long way from Earth.”** _

_**“The lion seems to want to got this planet.” Lance informed the others. “I think… I think it’s going home.”** _

Alfor frowned.

"That isn't Altea. Why would it be going there?"

He had a very bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much everyone, for all the patience you have shown me. The last few months have been extremely trying on all levels but this has stuck on my mind throughout it all.
> 
> I had planned to have about 20 more minutes or so in this chapter update, but that would have taken a lot longer and I wanted to update before the week ended. (It would have been almost 40 minutes of the episode in this chapter and I probably never would have gotten anything posted)
> 
> In order to make the work load more manageable I plan on uploading 10~12ish minute slices for chapter updates, as the regular episodes are about 24 minutes long and so I can do them in halves. There will be about three more sections for the first episode- two of those parts have already had the script written up and now it merely is me editing and writing dialogue (Which is actually really super fucking hard to keep them all in character and include as many characters as possible cause damnnnn)
> 
> In between each episode, I am unsure if I will post it as a separate chapter entirely or just add it onto the beginning of the next episode (which would probably make things very confusing), but there will be intermissions because fuck if people aren't gonna talk more when they don't have to watch and talk at the same time. Explanations will also be made along with you know, some actual fucking plot maybe within this fic besides just watching the show *shrugs*
> 
>  
> 
> Again, thank you for all the support you have given me. It's gotten me through so much, both in writing this fic, and just daily life. I hope to not let you down in the future updates to come (and hopefully not leave hanging for so fucking long as I did this time YIKES 6 MONTHS ABOUT HOLY FUCK) and though I am not sure when the next update will come, it _will_ come, and much sooner than this one did after such a long wait.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **@ AO3: Yo why can't I in the total chapter amount section put "Hella" as a valid amount cuz wtf its accurate isnt it??**


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